VARIETIES. 
369 
suits.  For  a  small  trial  in  the  first  instance,  which  can  be  managed 
by  any  person  having  the  run  of  a  garden,  procure  an  ordinary  glue 
pot  now  in  common  use,  which  melts  the  material  by  the  boiling  of 
water ;  it  is  in  fact  a  water  bath,  in  chemical  parlance ;  one  capable  of 
holding  a  pound  or  more  of  melted  fat.  At  the  season  when  the  flowers 
are  in  bloom  obtain  half  a  pound  of  fine  mutton  suet,  melt  the  suet  and 
strain  it  through  a  close  hair-sieve,  allow  the  liquefied  fat  as  it  falls  from 
the  sieve  to  drop  into  cold  spring  water ;  this  operation  granulates  and 
washes  the  blood  and  membrane  from  it.  In  order  to  start  with  a  perfectly 
inodorous  grease,  the  melting  and  granulation  process  may  be  repeated 
three  or  four  times  ;  finally,  remelt  the  fat  and  cast  it  into  a  pan  to  free  it 
from  adhering  water.  Now  put  the  clarified  suet  into  the  macerating  pot, 
and  place  it  in  such  a  position  near  the  fire  of  the  greenhouse  or  elsewhere 
that  will  keep  it  warm  enough  to  be  liquid  ;  into  the  fat  throw  as  many 
flowers  as  you  can,  and  there  let  them  remain  for  twenty-four  hours  ;  at 
this  time  strain  the  fat  from  the  spent  flowers  and  add  fresh  ones  :  repeat 
this  operation  for  a  week ;  we  expect  at  the  last  straining  the  fat  will  have 
become  very  highly  perfumed,  and  when  cold  may  be  justly  termed  Pomade 
d  la  Heliotrope.  t 
The  cold  pomade  being  chopped  up,  like  suet  for  a  pudding,  is  now  to  be 
put  into  a  wide-mouth  bottle,  and  covered  with  spirits  as  highly  rectified  as 
can  be  obtained,  and  left  to  digest  for  a  week  or  more ;  the  spirit  then 
strained  off  will  be  highly  perfumed ;  in  reality  it  will  be  extract  of  helio- 
trope, a  delightful  perfume  for  the  handkerchief.  The  rationale  of  the 
operation  is  simple  enough ;  the  fat  body  has  a  strong  affinity  or  attraction 
for  the  odorous  body,  or  essential  oil  of  the  flowers,  and  it,  therefore,  ab- 
sorbs it  by  contact  and  becomes  itself  perfumed.  In  the  second  operation, 
the  spirit  has  a  much  greater  attraction  for  the  fragrant  principle  than  the 
fatty  matter;  the  former,  therefore,  becomes  perfumed  at  the  expense  of 
the  latter.  The  same  experiment  may  be  repeated  with  almond  oil"  sub- 
stituted for  the  fat. 
The  experiment  here  hinted  at,  may  be  varied  with  any  flowers  that  there 
are  to  spare ;  indeed,  by  having  the  macerating  bath  larger  than  was  men- 
tioned above,  an  excellent  milleileur  pomade  and  essence  might  be  produced 
from  every  conservatory  in  the  kingdom,  and  thus  we  may  receive  another 
enjoyment  from  the  cultivation  of  flowers  beyond  their  beauty  of  form  and 
color. 
We  hope  that  those  of  our  readers  who  feel  inclined  to  try  experiments 
of  this  nature  will  not  be  deterred  by  saying,  «  they  are  not  worth  the 
trouble,"  as  we  affirm  this  to  be  incorrect.  It  must  be  remembered,  that 
very  fine  essences  realize  in  the  London  perfumery  warehouses  24s.  per 
pint  of  sixteen  ounces,  and  that  fine  flowery-scented  pomades  fetch  the  same 
sum  per  pound.  Heliotrope,  and  many  other  sweet  scented  plants,  are  just 
now  coming  into  season ;  and  if  the  experiments  are  successful  they  should 
24 
