169 



THE PERFUMERY TRADE AS REPRESENTED IN THE INTER- 

 NATIONAL EXHIBITION. 



BY EUGENE RIMMEL. 



In England perfumes were at first imported from Italy and France 

 and came into great vogue during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Shak- 

 speare often mentions nmsk, civet, perfumed gloves, and pomanders, or 

 ponnnes d'ambre, which were balls of perfume, to be held in the hand 

 and smelt occasionally : the latter were- supposed to preserve from the 

 plague. 



It is difficult to ascertain the precise date when manufactories of per- 

 fumery were first established in England, as perfumers did not form here 

 a separate corporate body as they did in France ; but an old English 

 recipe book, printed in 1663, contains a dentifrice prepared by M. Ferene, 

 of the New Exchange, perfumer to the Queen, so that they had already 

 at that time begun to manufacture. Since that period the perfumery 

 trade of England has followed about the same progress as that of France, 

 until it has reached its present state of prosperity. 



Perfumery is now divided into two distinct branches, the preparation 

 of perfumery materials, and the manufacture of perfumes, cosmetics, and 

 toilet soaps. The former is chiefly carried on in the south of France, 

 Italy, Spain, Turkey, Algeria, India, and other warm countries, where 

 the climate gives to flowers and plants the intensity of odour required 

 for a profitable extraction. England has produced only hitherto laven- 

 der and peppermint, but which are both greatly superior in quality to 

 any grown elsewhere. The following shows the principal materials em- 

 ployed in making perfumery, with their commercial and technical names, 

 the form in which they are used, their average prices, and the places 

 where they are produced : — 



Almond, bitter (fruit of the Amygdalus amara) ; expressed oil, 

 emulsion, or meal ; 6d. per lb. ; Northern Africa. 



Almond, bitter (fruit of the Amygdalus amara) ; essential oil ; 11. 12s. 

 per lb. ; distilled in England from foreign almonds. 



Ambergris (secretion of the Physeter macrocephalus ; powder and 

 alcoholate ; 321. per lb. ; found floating on the sea, or on the coasts of 

 India, China, Japan, Greenland, and other places. 



Aniseed (seed of the Pimpinella anisum) ; essential oil; 9s. per lb.; 

 North of Europe. 



Aniseed, star (capsules and seeds of the Illicium anisatum) ; essential 

 oil ; 1 6s. per lb. ; China and Japan. 



Balsam of Peru (exudation of the Myroxylon Peruiferum) ; natural 

 form ; 6s. per lb. ; West Coast of South America. 



Balsam of Tolu (exudation of the Toluifera balsamum) ; natural 

 form ; 5s. per lb. ; West Coast of South America. 



VOL. III. o 



