CONCERNING ODOURS, 16-18 



that 1 which is made from bitter almonds. Once 

 more, is it not inconsistent to seek the vehicle which 

 has the least odour of its own, such as the oil which 

 is pressed raw from ' coarse olives/ and yet at the 

 same time to use the above-mentioned 2 oils as 

 vehicles ? (for oil of almonds has a pungent smell). 

 Possibly the explanation is that it is only by 

 being cooked that oil acquires an evil smell. 3 These 

 matters then are subject for enquiry. 



They use spices in the making of all perfumes ; 

 some to thicken 4 the oil, some in order to impart 

 their odour. For in all cases they thicken the oil to 

 some extent to make it take the odour better, just as 

 they treat wool for dyeing. The less powerful spices 

 are used for the thickening, and then at a later 

 stage they put in the one whose odour they wish 

 to secure. 5 For that which is put in last always 

 dominates, even if it is in small quantity ; thus, if a 

 pound of myrrh is put into a half-pint of oil, and 

 at a later stage a third of an ounce of cinnamon is 

 added, this small amount dominates. 



At this one may well wonder ; and also why it is 

 that the previous addition of spices, which have an 

 odour of their own, renders the oil more receptive : 

 for the vehicle should be scentless, but a substance 

 over which another substance has thus prevailed, 

 cannot be scentless, so that it ought, one would 

 think, to have become less receptive. However both 

 facts, or rather all of them, may be accounted for in 

 the same way : the spices, being solid, attract to 



3 So. ' and these oils are used in the raw state ' (?). I do 

 not see how Furlanus' explanation, quoted by Sch., is to be 

 found in the text. The following sentence shews that T. 

 does not claim to have settled the question. 



4 i.e. to make it less volatile. 5 cf. Plin. 13. 19. 



343 



