136 
Essential  Oil  Industry  in  Grasse. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     March,  1885. 
1651,  p.  27),  the  indefatigable  physician  gives  a  modest  but  unmis- 
takable figure,  with  a  corresponding  description  of  the  beautiful  plant, 
under  the  name  "  Omizochitl,  sen  Flos  osseus."  He  also  mentions  its 
use  in  making  odorous  wreaths.  Upon  this  point  the  scanty  notice 
which  Clusius  gives  in  1601  of  the  hyacinthus  indicus  tuberosa 
radice'^  in  the  '  Rariorum  Plantarum  Historia '  is  silent.  Clusius' 
figure  is  not  so  faithful  as  the  one  previously  mentioned.  Since  the 
time  of  Clusius  the  name  tuberose  has  clung  to  the  plant. 
(8).  Violette. — The  Viola  odorata  is  not  grown  in  the  open  field, 
like  the  other  perfumery  plants,  but  in  the  olive  groves,  which  here 
extend  over  hill  and  valley  in  special  beauty.  The  Riviera  can  show 
far  larger  and  wider  spreading  olive  trees,  but  those  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Grasse  are  remarkable  for  their  fresher  and  greener  foliage. 
Besides  this,  the  ground  shaded  by  the  trees  is  there  richly  overgrown 
with  grass,  so  that  the  color  of  the  landscape  recalls  the  loveliness  of 
the  hills  near  Florence.  With  such  surroundings,  the  violet  planta- 
tions spread  out  here  and  there,  both  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  Grasse  and  on  higher  slopes,  present  a  charming  appearance. 
Occasionally  the  Sarothamnus  is  associated  with  it  also.  At  the  time 
of  the  author's  visit  he  saw  at  the  factory  a  large  sack  of  the  last  violets 
of  the  season,  which  had  been  delivered  fresh  by  the  collectors  only  an 
hour  before.  The  flower  was  the  ordinary  Viola  odorata^  neither 
darker  nor  brighter  in  color,  nor  possessing  a  stronger  perfume.  But 
he  was  told  that  ^'  les  dernieres  de  la  saison"  had  a  decidedly  weaker 
odor,  and  he  heiird  also  that  the  collectors  were  dissuaded  from  bring- 
ing any  more. 
A  great  part  of  the  industry  and  trade  of  Grasse  is  dependent  upon 
the  foregoing  eight  plants  and  it  does  not  suffer  from  fluctuations  due 
to  change  of  fashion  like  many  other  industries.  Year  after  year  the 
manufacturers  supply  to  their. customers  the  same  favorite  pommades'^ 
and  "  extracts/'  and  it  is  noteworthy  that  no  perfumer  from  the  large 
centres  of  fashion  should  direct  his  attention  to  other  preparations  of 
the  kind.  The  explanation  may  be  that  the  introduction  of  novelties 
into  this  domain  requires  an  acquaintance  with  the  vegetable  kingdom 
which  is  scarcely  possessed  by  the  purchasers  of  the  pommades  and 
extracts  of  Grasse. 
The     pommades  "  are  prepared  by  two  methods,  "  infusion  "  and 
enfleurage."    In  the  former  the  transfer  of  the  odorous  principles  to 
fat  is  brought  about  by  intimate  contact  and  warming.    The  predilec- 
