30 INTRODUCTION. 



great majority of them, if not extremely fragrant, 

 are always in some degree refreshing to the sense. 



As the atmosphere conveys this quality to a 

 considerable distance, it must be a fugitive body 

 sufficiently material, though invisible, to be in- 

 corporated with common air in a gaseous or 

 other highly refined state. It seems to be yielded 

 most intensely from the centre of the flower ; 

 hence it has been supposed to be a kind of 

 vapour from the honey or nectar; but it is also 

 contained in the other parts, as detached calyces, 

 petals, stamens, style, and pericarp, as well as the 

 seeds, which carry with them the aroma more or 

 less intense. 



Scent may be discharged and transferred by 

 contact, detrition, maceration, dilution, &c., and 

 combined with other substances, in which it may 

 be preserved ; of course, it is intimately united 

 to the essential oils, aqueous juices, or fibrous 

 components of the plant. 



The state of the air has considerable influence 

 in regard to the intensity of floral scent. In a 

 fine, still, dewy morning, the air is as it were 



