Am.  Jour,  Pharm  .  ) 
March,  1885.  / 
Essential  Oil  Industry  in  Grasse. 
133 
soQis  of  the  ordinary  sweet-fruited  orange,  which  are  not  used  for 
distillation,  yield  only  an  oil  of  inferior  value.  In  competition  with 
the  products  of  the  bigaradier,  the  sweet  orange  which  is  cultivated 
in  Grasse  is  disappearing.  Neither  the  bergamot  nor  the  lemon  occur 
there. 
At  the  time  of  the  author's  visit  the  enormous  metal  tanks  and 
cemented  cisterns  for  holding  rose  water  in  the  factory  of  M.  E-oure 
were  ready  for  the  reception  of  the  products  of  the  coming  season, 
which,  like  that  of  the  neroli  flowers,  is  at  its  height  in  the  month  of 
May,  when  thousands  of  kilograms  of  rose  leaves  are  passed  daily  into 
the  stills.  The  rose  oil  collected  in  sm-all  quantity  during  the  distilla- 
tion of  the  rose  water  is  probably  equally  as  fine  as  the  oil  of  roses 
from  the  Balkans  or  from  India;  but  notwithstanding  it  grows  in 
nearly  the  same  geographical  latitude,  the  rose  in  Provence  produces 
far  more  of  the  worthless  solid  constituent,  dissolved  in  the  liquid 
portion,  which  alone  is  odorous.  The  question  arises  whether  a  change 
in  the  strain  of  the  roses  so  largely  cultivated  in  Grasse  might  not 
lead  to  an  improvement  in  respect  to  the  oil.  However,  the  rose  water 
has  for  a  century  found  a  good  sale,  so  that  Grasse  is  not  under  the 
necessity  to  seek  for  further  progress.  The  oil  at  present  obtained  in 
the  manufacture,  amounts  to  about  one  kilogram  from  each  12,000 
kilograms  of  fresh  rose  leaves ;  to  completely  satisfy  the  requirements 
of  customers,  oil  is  obtained  from  the  Balkans.  The  author  thinks  that 
the  manufacture  in  Grasse  affords  a  favorable  opportunity  to  determine 
the  chemical  properties,  hitherto  completely  unknown,  of  the  oil  to 
which  the  rose  owes  its  perfume. 
In  perfumery  ^'  beurre  d'iris"  justly  enjoys  great  popularity.  It  is 
distinguished  above  many  other  perfumes  by  an  agreeable  softness  and 
great  permanence.  With  the  help  of  the  most  perfect  methods  of  dis- 
tillation, iris  root  yields  scarcely  one  part  per  thousand  of  the  so-called 
"  orris-root  camphor."  The  above  named  house  in  Grasse  prepares 
four  to  ten  kilograms  yearly.  Probably  an  equal  quantity  is  distilled 
in  London  and  in  Leipzig.  A  specimen  of  orris  butter  presented  by 
M.  Roure  to  the  author  enabled  him  to  make  a  comparison  of  it  with 
preparations  from  the  two  other  sources.^  In  the  case  of  orris  butter 
also  we  have  to  do  with  an  oil,  entirely  uninvestigated  as  to  its  com- 
position, occurring  in  minute  quantity  together  with  the  odorless  prin- 
^  See  Fliickiger's  "  Pharmacognosie,"  p.  314. 
