INFUSION ENFLEURAGE. 153 



of the still with leaves of the bigarade orange was about 1857. 

 80 Ibs. 



In addition to the manufacture of essential oils, an important 

 branch of industry consists in the preparation of- scented fatty 

 oils and pomades. These are prepared by one of two processes, 

 called respectively Infusion and Enfleurage. 



Infusion consists, as the name implies, in infusing the sub- infusion. 

 stance whose odour is to be extracted, in a mixture of lard and 

 beef-fat melted in a water-bath, or in warm olive oil. The 

 chief substances thus treated are the flowers of the rose, cassie, 

 bitter orange, and violet. Mignonette is also sometimes sub- 

 jected to this process. The flowers are immersed entire, except 

 in the case of orange flowers, which are previously bruised. 

 After immersion in the fatty menstruum for a requisite period, 

 the mixture is strained off and the residue pressed. The pomade 

 is preserved in large metal vessels, some of which have a 

 capacity of 300 kilogrammes. 



The process of Enfleurage is resorted to in extracting the odour 

 of the flowers of tuberose, jessamine, and mignonette. The ap- 

 paratus required is merely a number of shallow wooden frames 

 of about 18 by 15 inches, inclosing at half their depth a sheet 

 of glass. The edges of the frames rise about an inch above each 

 surface of the glass, and being flat, the frames stand securely one 

 upon another, forming often considerable stacks. The technical 

 name for the frames is chassis : those just described are called 

 chassis aux vitres, or chassis aux pommades t to distinguish 

 them from a different form, which is used where oil has to be 

 submitted to the process of Enfleurage. The process in the case 

 of pomade is thus conducted: the unscented fat (which has 

 about the consistence of spermaceti ointment) is weighed into 

 portions, each sufficient for one side of the sheet of glass of a 

 chassis. It is then spread over the glass with a spatula in a 

 layer hardly a tenth of an inch thick, care being taken by 

 employing a little inner frame during the spreading, that the fat 

 does not come in contact with the woodwork of the chassis. 

 One surface of the glass having been thus coated, the other is 

 coated in like manner ; and the chassis is ready to receive the 



