July i, 1891.] 
THE TROPfCAU AGRICULTURIST, 
19 
be dofi not wish hii piecious stones to sparklO'^dis* 
traoting the eye. The Hindoo’s notion even in oatting 
gems, is to mske them eliiue. Oar self-snfhoieooy at> 
tributes to ignoranee or wunt of skill sn effect which 
in truth, is tbe remit of a taste more delicate and 
finished than ours. We think that the Oriental 
would have brilliaots and roase, and the rest, if 
he oould— a grotesque error. Everybody nowadays, or 
almost everybody, is prepared to laugh at verdict 
of the jury delivered after the Great Exhibition of 
1851. To oast a glauoe at the jewellery of India,” 
said that amusiiig record, is enough to oonvtnco us 
that those uations have remained stationery from a 
very early period of manufacture Some of them, 
indeed, develop ideas full of graco and originality, but 
their productiuus are always iminatare and imperfect; 
and the skill of the workman is called in to make 
ameuds for the inadequateoess of tbe mauufactui ing 
process.” The rhilistino never made a more strik* 
ing declaration of faith. We have left that a long 
way behind, anyhow. When precious stones generally 
lose their value it maybe hoped that we shall take a 
greater stride for jewellery than will show not so 
much the length of the buyers purse as tbe quality 
of his taste.— iS'f. James's Budget. 
♦ 
THE TEKFUME INDUSTRY AT GRASSE. 
loan article on Grasse and itaJPerfumo Industry,” 
published in the Pictonal ]\'orld of April 18th some 
account of the old town is given, with views of the Grand 
Hotel, where the Queen baa been htayiug, the catbe> 
dral, aud some ot tbe scenery in the neighbourhoud. 
The proprietors of the Bictorud lUorW have been good 
enough to lend us one of the engravings, representing 
an interesting Roene in ooo of tho large purfumc- 
factories of the place. Tho women shown in tho picture 
are all engaged in separating the pistils from the 
petals of roses previous to using the latter lor ^’rose 
pomade.” Tbe photograph from which tho view was 
taken aud the following partio liars were supplied to 
the Pictorial IVorld by Mr. J. E. lloldaworth, son of a 
member ot the weilknown firm of Osborne, Huuor & 
Gheoseman, the perfumers of Golden Bquare. Mr. 
Holdsworth, juur., it is stated, hns had tbe opportu- 
nity of beoomiug practically acquainted vniii tho 
subject, having studied the manufaclure of ilural pro- 
ducts at M. Bruno-Oourt's factory. 
There are processes for extracting perfume from 
fiowers ; tbe hot process or uiaceralioo; the cold pro- 
cess, or €njieurage\ and distillation by steam. 
The hot process consists in throwing the flowers into 
hot grease directly they arc picked; after a given time 
they are strained off, but as they take up ^ueb a 
(tuantity of grease, they are wrapped up in cloths aud 
pressed by hydraulic pressure. Every day fresh dowers 
are pub into the same pomade, until it is at full cou- 
centratiou. 
In the cold process the flower.s are laid on cold 
pomade, which is spread on pieces of glass, about two 
feet tquare, ia a wooden frame; the giass is covered 
with pomade on both sides, and tbe frames are stacked 
one upon the other, thus making a kind of box which 
fits 80 well that it is almost air-tight. This process is 
also oonlinned until full concentration is obtained. 
The floral season commences in January with tho 
violet, the perfume of which is extracted by the hot 
process. Next follows the jonquil in March, from which 
the perfume 18 extracted by means of the cold process. 
From the middle of April until the commencomoDt of 
May cornea the reieda, or mignonette. Then in May 
oommeooes the busy Bcoson for Grasse ; women and 
children are employed in all tho factories to pick the 
pistils from tbe rose-leaves, as the latter are only usud 
for the ” floral pomade.” 
Tho leaves are thrown into baskets, and are at ooce 
treated by the hot process ; and this is continued until 
the middle of Juuo. Tho orange-flower blooms the 
came time as the rose, and is treated io the same way. 
What surprises tho stranger moat is the enormous 
quantity of bloom; it is not spoken of by the pound, 
but by tUo ton, The work of piokiug makes ajong day’s 
labour ; as it is csieutial that the flowers should be 
treated while they are perfectly fresh, it is necessary 
to commence work as early as four o’clock in the 
morning, and to continue someiimea until iniduigbt. 
From July to September come tbe jasmine and 
tuberose, which are tre.ited by tho cold process ; and 
the season closes with castie in December, treated by 
tho hot process. 
The third process, distillation, is carried on all tho 
your. There are only two out of all the flowers men- 
tiouod that are thus distilled; they are the rose and 
orauge-fiowor. The rose gives very little otto of roses, 
but is distilled mainly also for the rose-water ” ; (he 
orange-flower gives an oil called '* ueroH ” aud orange- 
flower water. Whea tbe abuvomentioned flowers 
are not in season patchouli leaves, cloves, geranium, 
i^c., are also treated by distillatiou. 
During tbe Queen's visit to Graa.«4e she has visited 
the factories of M. Bruno-Court and of M. China. At 
tbe works of M. Obiris the last of the violate and 
jonquils which will be used this year had just been 
received, aud before the Queen arrived, the floors of 
the quadrangle and the rooms to be visited bad been 
carpeted with them. The Queen saw in operation 
the proceH^iOs of capturing these odours, and as Utr 
Majesty loft M. Gbirlis presented a basket of perfumes 
beautifully displayed in a bed of violets and decorated 
with apple-greon ribbons and Marceohal Niel roses,— 
Ohemist and Druggist* 
^ 
SPURIOUS CUBEBS. 
We had our attention called some weeks ago to 
the offer of an Amsterdam firm to supply to Euglish 
houses ’’spnriouH cubobs for duggists’ use,” says the 
Chentist and Druggist. W’o have been fortunate in 
securing a tample of these, aud of three kinds for 
distillation. Of the latter, Riiuiple a consisted of ex- 
tremely small and bUrivelled barrtls of a black color, 
mixed with stalks, most of which were smooth and 
some sbowed the char.icteriotio iimrkingH of the piper 
tachis. The sample contained 100 grains of stalk 
aud MO grains ot '-erry. The latter was very dt ticieut 
in uronia, aud unlike immature eubt.-bs, did uot give 
the crimsou colorud reaeliuu with sulphuric acid. Tho 
impresalni Itic from the examinnttou ot this Rumple 
was that the bciries had already been iu the btill : 
were tho feeble aroma due to immarnrity, wo should 
liivo expected to get a better cubeb in reHction. 
Agalust this supposition it may, however, be Htatod 
that last week 60 bags of similar berries were disposed 
of in Miucing Lane. These were of direct import 
from Singapore. Samples b and e were recogni-Hed 
at true cubens, differing only iu propurtion of titalk, 
aud c showed the pnscuoo of a sniiili percentage of 
tho unnamed cubeb substitute which is more globular 
aud larger than the true berry, but \n not Dipir 
craMsipos. Sample b oontaiueu 205 grains of --tHlk, 
chiefly bold raeuw, to 300 grains of berry. The earn- 
pie was rich in esseutiul oil. Samp e c oontaiuod 
130 grains of very bold rachis to 300 grains of berry 
less abundant iu oil than the former. Sample d. 
” spurious for druggists’ uxe,” was the fruit of B per 
crassipcj. Apart from tho queaiiou of admixture 
with Bpurious fruit, the pruporinn of stalk is a 
matter which disCillora should look into more care- 
tudy than they do. Cubobs yield from 12 to 16 per 
cent, of esseutisl oil, aud the stilks only 1 ptreenb 
frt^qiionlly less. While their piesenco is not 
objectiousblR, the fact that to tho eye ssniplo c con- 
tained lobS than b, while it actua ly showed about 6 
pur cent, more, is a sufiioiout argument for more 
careful consideration on tho part of buyers. Tho 
question alfco naturally arises *• Do all th* so stalky 
cubebs go into the still, or may some not find their 
way into the mill ?” That can only be deteriuined 
by microi^copic examination of the commercial powder, 
aud comparison witli the hi'^tological characiers ot 
cubeb stalks. It may bo mentioned tliat what we 
h.ive estimated as the best oi the three diadlatiou 
samples was the lowest priced. We learn regarding 
