176 ON THE PERFUMERY TRADE, 



dimensions, for the facility of working. It consists in mixing fat liqui- 

 fied to a milky consistency with a fixed dose of concentrated soda-lees, in 

 the proportion of one-third of lees to two-thirds of fat. The mass is kept 

 at a gentle heat, and constantly stirred for about two hours, and then 

 poured into a frame, where the saponification becomes complete. 

 Mutton suet or lard is generally used for this purpose ; the latter pro- 

 duces a soap of a finer grain. This process is not generally so much 

 esteemed as the other ; but yet when the fat and lees are perfectly pure, 

 and the doses nicely calculated, it may produce as good a soap as the 

 hot process, but it requires to be kept some little time to become per- 

 fect. It offers a certain advantage to perfumers for producing a deli- 

 cately scented soap, by enabling them to use as a basis instead of fat 

 some pomade obtained from flowers, which could not be done with the 

 other process, as the heat would destroy its flavour. Soft soap, known in 

 the trade under the name of saponaceous cream, or cream of almonds, is 

 also made by the cold process, and consists in a mixture of lard and a 

 little cocoa-nut oil with potash-lees. Transparent soap is a combination 

 of hard soda soap with alcohol. A soft transparent soap may also be 

 made by substituting potash-soap for soda-soap. Soaps are usually per- 

 fumed with essential oils of a cheap description, such as those distilled 

 from aromatic plants or spices, to which are sometimes added balsams 

 or tinctures. They are coloured in various ways to suit the tastes of the 

 markets for which they are intended. The new mauve dyes have been 

 tried with them, and found to succeed very well with the violet colour, 

 but the pink is apt to fly. There are some soaps, however, in the Aus- 

 trian department which have a rosy hue, apparently produced by one of 

 those dyes. 



In former Exhibitions perfumery was classed in different ways, 

 sometimes with miscellaneous articles, as in 1851, sometimes with che- 

 mical products, as in 1855. It has obtained for the first time in the 

 present Exhibition — thanks to the exertions of the London perfumers — 

 the privilege of forming a separate sub-class ; a distinction it is entitled 

 to, not only for the importance of its trade, but also on account of the 

 nature of its manufacture, which is totally different from any other. 

 There are 232 exhibitors of perfumery, of which 109 exhibit perfumery 

 materials, and 123 manufactured perfumery and toilet soaps. 



United Kingdom. — The perfumery materials exhibited in tins de- 

 partment consist in essential oils, some distilled from indigenous plants, 

 such as peppermint and lavender, and others from aromatic substances 

 imported from abroad, such as almonds, cloves, &c. Several exhibitors 

 also show specimens of artificial essences or ethers, comprising nitro- 

 benzole, called by the French mirbane, made by treating rectified ben- 

 zole, or rectified coal-tar naptha, with nitric acid ; and alcoholic solutions 

 of various ethers, known under the names of fruit essences, comprising 

 essence of pear, which is an acetate of amyl ; essence of apple, which is a 

 valerianate of amyl; and essence of pine-apple, wdiich is composed of 



