THE TECHNOLOGIST. [April 1, 1865. 



398 THE COMMERCIAL DSES OP 



Tinder the name of puchapat. It has a most peculiar flavour, which is 

 as offensive to some as it is agreeable to others. 



Wintergreen (Gaidtheria procumbens) we receive from North America. 

 This essence is exceedingly powerful, and requires to be used with great 

 caution to produce a pleasing effect. Well blended with others in soap, 

 it imparts to it a rich, floral fragrance. 



The andropogon * series embraces three sorts of aromatic grasses, 

 which grow abundantly in India, and principally in Ceylon, whence we 

 obtain their essential oils.' They are the Andropogon Schoznanihus, or 

 lemon-grass, which is used to imitate verbena, having a somewhat 

 similar fragrance ; the Andropogon citratus, or citronella, which 

 forms the basis of the perfume of honey soap ; and the Andropogon 

 Nardus, or ginger-grass oil, improperly called Indian geranium. The 

 chief use of the latter for some persons, I am sorry to say, is to adulterate 

 otto of roses, which costs from 30s. to 40s. per ounce, whilst the latter 

 is scarcely worth one shilling per ounce. 



The citrine series comprises bergamot {Citrus bergamia), orange 

 (Citrus Bigaradia), lemon (Citrus medica), ceclrat (Citrus cedra), and 

 limette (Citrus Limctta). Essential oils are expressed or distilled from 

 the rind of those fruits. 



The spice series includes cassia, cinnamon, cloves, mace, nutmeg, and 

 pimento. 



Cassia, which was, like cinnamon, well known and highly-prized by 

 the ancients, is distilled from the Laurus Cassia, a tree of the laurel 

 tribe, which is abundant in the East Indies and China. 



Cinnamon belongs to the same class, and is extracted from the bark 

 of the Laurus Cinnamomum. A coarser essence is also obtained from 

 the leaves of the same tree. 



Cloves are the flower-buds of the Caryophyllus aromaticus, a tree 

 found in the Indian Archipelago. The finest come from Zanzibar. The 

 essence is chiefly used for scenting soap, but when in infinitesimal quanti- 

 ties italso blends well with some handkerchief scents, and principally with 

 the carnation and clove-pink, the fragrance of which it closely resembles. 



Mace and nutmeg are both produced by the Myristica moschata, the 

 latter being the fruit of that tree, and the former one of its envelopes. 



Pimento, or allspice, is the berry of the Pimenta vulgaris, from which 

 an essential oil is distilled, which, like the two last-named, is used for 

 perluming soap. 



The ligneous series consists of sandal-wood, rose-wood, rhodium, 

 cedar-wood, and sassafras. 



Sandal-wood comes from the East, where it is highly esteemed as the 

 perfume par excellence, forming the ground of all their toilet prepara- 

 tions. There are several species, the best being the. Santalum citrinum, 

 from which the essential oil used by perfumers is chiefly distilled. I 



* From avtipos ir&yov, so called because this grass resembles a man's beard. 



