VARIETIES,  s  371 
air  entering  at  the  upper  opening  shall  be  a  little  more  than  suf- 
ficient to  convert  all  the  carbonic  oxide  into  carbonic  acid,  so 
as  to  economise  the  fuel  and  render  the  action  of  the  gas  more 
energetic  on  the  milk  of  magnesia.  Carbonic  acid  obtained  from 
any  other  source  equally  answers  the  purpose. — London  Pharm. 
Journ,y  November  1854. 
Varieties* 
On  Perfumery.  By  Septimus  Piesse. 
(Continued  from  page  278.) 
The  thirteen  previous  articles  which  have  appeared  in  the  u  Annals  <} 
have  exclusively  treated  of  Wet  Perfumes,  the  present  matter  relates  to 
Dry  Perfumes  ;  sachet  powders,  tablets,  pastilles,  fumigation  by  the  aid  of 
heat  of  volatile  odorous  resins,  &c,  &c.  The  perfumes  used  by  the  ancients 
were,  undoubtedly,  nothing  more  than  the  odoriferous  gums  which  naturally 
exude  from  various  trees  and  shrubs  indigenous  to  the  Eastern  hemisphere 
— that  they  were  very  extensively  used  and  much  valued,  we  have  only  to 
read  the  Scriptures  for  proofs  : — "  Who  is  this  that  cometh  per- 
fumed with  myrrh  and  frankincense,  with  all  the  powders  of  the  merchant  V' 
(Song  of  Solomon  iii.  6.)  Abstaining  from  the  use  of  perfume  in  Eastern 
countries  is  considered  as  a  sign  of  humiliation  : — "  The  Lord  will  take 
away  the  tablets,  and  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  instead  of  a  sweet  smell 
there  shall  be  a  stink."— (Exod.  xxxv.  22;  Isaiah  iii.  20,  24.)  The  word 
tablets  in  this  passage  means  perfume  boxes,  curiously  inlaid,  made  of 
metal,  wood,  and  ivory.  Some  of  these  boxes  may  have  been  made  in  the 
shape  of  buildings,  which  would  interpret  the  word  palaces  in  Psalm  xiv. 
8: — "  All  thy  garments  smell  of  myrrh,  and  aloes,  and  cassia,  out  of  the 
ivory  palaces,  whereby  they  have  made  thee  glad."  From  what  is  said  in 
Matt,  ii,  11,  it  would  appear  that  perfumes  were  considered  among  the  most 
valuable  gifts  which  man  could  bestow  : — "  And  when  they  (the  wise  men) 
had  opened  their  treasures,  they  presented  unto  him  (Christ)  gifts  ;  gold, 
and  frankincense,  and  myrrh."  As  far  as  we  are  able  to  learn,  all  the  per- 
fumes used  by  the  Egyptians  and  Persians  during  the  early  period  of  the 
world  were  dry  perfumes,  consisting  of  spikenard  (Nardostachys  jatamansi), 
myrrh,  olibanum,  and  other  gum  resins,  nearly  all  of  which  are  still  in  use 
by  the  manufacturers  of  odors.  Among  the  curiosities  shown  at  Alnwick 
Castle  is  a  vase  that  was  taken  from  an  Egyptian  catacomb.  It  is  full  of  a 
mixture  of  gum  resins,  &c,  which  evolve  a  pleasant  odor  to  the  present 
day,  although  probably  3,000  years  old.  We  have  no  doubt  that  the  original 
use  of  this  vase  and  its  contents  were  for  perfuming  apartments,  in  the  same 
way  that  pot  pourri  is  now  used. 
