^""MarXissr"""}  Essenticil  Oil  Industry  in  Grasse.         '  137 
tion  of  the  human  family  for  unguents  may  not  be  easy  to  explain, 
but  probably  it  goes  back  to  the  highest  antiquity.  Pliny  ascribes 
their  discovery  to  the  Persians,  and  Pliny,  Dioscorides,  and  other  old 
writers  refer  in  great  detail  to  these  preparations.  In  the  present  day 
pharmacy  seeks  not  so  much  to  convey  to  fat  the  agreeable  odor  of 
flowers  as  the  healing  properties  of  particular  plants. 
Dioscorides  gives  quite  a  detailed  introduction  to  the  purification  of 
the  fat  for  the  purpose,  and  the  preparation  of  this  basis  of  pommades 
in  the  best  condition  is  still  the  first  endeavor  of  the  manufacturers  in 
Grasse.  The  best  pig's  lard  or  beef  suet  is  selected,  a  considerable 
portion  being  contributed  by  the  populous  towns  of  the  Riviera,  as 
well  as  Lombardy.  The  melting  of  the  fat,  its  mechanical  purification 
and  washing,  are  conducted  with  exemplary  care  and  cleanliness.  The 
digestion  of  fat  with  benzoin  has  long  been  carried  on  in  Grasse  on  the 
largest  scale,  furnishing  an  incontestable  opportunity  of  demonstrating 
its  effectiveness  ;  and  the  fact  that  the  stability  of  fat  is  essentially 
increased  by  the  process  admits  of  no  doubt.  Lard  and  beef  tallow, 
either  separate  or  mixed  in  the  proportion  of  2:1,  are  kept  until 
required  for  use  in  tinned  iron  vats,  in  fine  dry  ventilated  cellars.  The 
"  infusion  is  effected  in  large  jacketted  boilers,  in  which  the  fat  is 
warmed  by  steam  heat,  and  the  flowers  are  added.  In  the  month  of 
May  over  10,000  kilograms  of  rose  or  bigarade  flowers  pass  daily,  for 
many  days  in  succession,  into  the  boilers  of  the  factory  of  Roure-Ber- 
trand  fils  alone,  and  this  is  only  a  part  of  the  daily  consumption  in  the 
factories  in  Grasse.  The  diligent  stirring  of  the  flowers  in  the  fat- 
bath  is  carried  on  by  female  workers,  the  expression  by  means  of 
hydraulic  presses  is  done  by  men.  After  the  clearing  of  the  fat  by 
deposition  and  straining,  the  finished  pommade  is  at  once  weighed  off 
in  tin  boxes  or  passes  into  the  large  subterranean  storerooms,  in  which 
it  will  remain  very  good  until  at  least  the  next  season. 
Notwithstanding  the  exemplary  pains  which  are  spent  upon  this 
^'  infusion  a  chaud,'^  the  fat  still  remains  fat,  gradually  but  inevitably 
undergoing  change  and  becoming  rancid.  The  question  suggests 
itself  whether  the  fat  might  not  be  replaced  by  the  unalterable  paraffin 
which  has  so  successfully  competed  with  fat  in  pharmacy.  It  might 
be  thought  that  such  a  preparation  as  the  unguentum  paraffini  of  the 
German  Pharmacopoeia  would  be  particularly  suited  to  acquire  the 
most  delicate  perfume  and  preserve  it  faithfully.  But  Professor 
Fliickiger  was  assured  by  M.  Roure  that  this  is  by  no  means  the  case. 
