274 
VAEIETIES. 
Some  houses,  such  as  that  of  Messieurs  Pilar  and  Sons,  Pascal  Brothers, 
H.  Faye,  and  a  few  others,  have  three  thousand  such  frames  at  work  during 
the  season  ;  as  they  are  filled,  they  are  piled  one  over  the  other,  the  flowers 
are  changed  so  long  as  the  plants  continue  to  bloom,  now  and  then  over  a 
time  of  two  or  three  months. 
For  oils  of  the  same  plants,  coarse  linen  cloths  are  imbued  with  the  finest 
olive  oil  or  oil  of  ben,  and  stretched  upon  a  frame  made  of  iron  ;  on  these 
the  flowers  are  laid  and  suffered  to  remain  a  few  days.  This  operation  is 
repeated  several  times,  after  which  the  cloths  are  subject  to  great  pressure, 
to  remove  the  now  perfumed  oil. 
As  we  cannot  give  any  general  rule  for  working,  without  misleading  the 
reader,  we  prefer  explaining  the  process  required  for  each  when  we  come 
to  speak  of  the  individual  flower  or  plant. 
Whenever  a  still  is  named,  or  the  article  is  said  to  be  distilled  or  "  drawn," 
it  must  be  understood  to  be  done  so  by  steam  apparatus,  as  this  is  the  only 
mode  which  can  be  adopted  for  obtaining  anything  like  a  delicate  odor ;  the 
old  plan  of  having  the  fire  immediately  under  the  still,  conveying  an  empy- 
reumatic  or  burnt  smell  to  the  result,  has  become  obsolete  in  every  well- 
regulated  perfumatory. 
The  steam-still  differs  from  the  one  described  only  in  the  lower  part,  or 
pan,  which  is  made  double,  so  as  to  allow  steam  from  a  boiler  to  circulate 
around  the  pan  for  the  purpose  of  boiling  the  contents,  instead  of  a  direct 
fire.  In  macerating,  the  heat  is  applied  in  the  same  way,  or  by  a  contri- 
vance like  the  common  glue-pot,  as  made  use  of  now-a-days. 
This  description  of  apparatus  will  be  found  very  useful  for  experiments 
which  we  will  suggest  by-and-bye. 
The  perfumes  for  the  handkerchief,  as  found  in  the  shops  of  Paris  and 
London,  are  either  simple  or  compound ;  the  former  are  called  extraits,  es- 
prits,  or  essences,  and  the  latter  bouquets  and  nosegays,  which  are  mixtures 
of  the  extracts  so  compounded  in  quantity  that  no  one  flower  or  odor  can 
be  discovered  as  predominating  over  another  ;  and  when  made  of  the  deli- 
cate-scented flowers  carefully  blended,  they  produce  an  exquisite  sensation 
on  the  olfactory  nerve,  which  conveys  to  us  the  sense  of  smell,  and  are 
therefore,  much  prized  by  those  whose  wealth  enables  them  to  indulge  in 
such  pleasures. 
We  shall  first  explain  the  mode  for  obtaining  the  simple  extracts  of  flow- 
ers, which  will  be  followed  by  the  process  for  preparing  ambergris  and  musk, 
substances,  which,  though  of  animal  origin,  are  of  the  utmost  importance  as 
forming  a  large  part  in  the  most  approved  bouquets,  concluding  this  depart- 
ment of  the  art  with  recipes  for  all  the  fashionable  bouquets  and  nosegays, 
the  value  of  which,  we  doubt  not,  will  be  estimated  according  to  the  labor 
bestowed  upon  their  analysis. 
Expecting  these  remarks  to  become  more  a  work  of  reference  than  any- 
thing else,  we  have  adopted  the  alphabetical  arrangement  in  preference  to 
a  more  scientific  classification. 
