The Art of Perfumery, and Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants Part 7

Allow the ingredients to remain together for a fortnight; then filter, if requisite, and it is ready for sale.

ESSENCE OF WHITE ROSE.

Esprit de rose from pomatum, 1 quart.

" " triple, 1 "

" violette, 1 "

Extracts of jasmine 1 pint.

" patchouly, 1/2 "

ESSENCE OF TEA ROSE.

Esprit de rose pomade, 1 pint.

" " triple, 1 "

Extract of rose-leaf geranium, 1 "

" sandal-wood, 1/2 "

" neroli, 1/4 "

" orris, 1/4 "

ROSEMARY.--

"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance."

SHAKSPEARE.

By distilling the _Rosmarinus officinalis_ a thin limpid otto is procured, having the characteristic odor of the plant, which is more aromatic than sweet. One cwt. of the fresh herb yields about twenty-four ounces of oil. Otto of rosemary is very extensively used in perfumery, especially in combination with other ottos for scenting soap. Eau de Cologne cannot be made without it, and in the once famous "Hungary water" it is the leading ingredient. The following is the composition of

HUNGARY WATER.

Rectified alcohol, 1 gallon.

Otto of English rosemary, 2 oz.

" lemon-peel, 1 oz.

" balm (_Melissa_), 1 oz.

" mint, 1/2 drachm.

Esprit de rose, 1 pint.

Extract of fleur d'orange, 1 "

It is put up for sale in a similar way to eau de Cologne, and is said to take its name from one of the queens of Hungary, who is reported to have derived great benefit from a bath containing it, at the age of seventy-five years. There is no doubt that clergymen and orators, while speaking for any time, would derive great benefit from perfuming their handkerchief with Hungary water or eau de Cologne, as the rosemary they contain excites the mind to vigorous action, sufficient of the stimulant being inhaled by occasionally wiping the face with the handkerchief wetted with these "waters." Shakspeare giving us the key, we can understand how it is that such perfumes containing rosemary are universally said to be "so refres.h.i.+ng!"

SAGE.--A powerful-scenting otto can be procured by distillation from any of the _Salvieae_. It is rarely used, but is nevertheless very valuable in combination for scenting soap.

Dried sage-leaves, ground, will compound well for sachets.

SANTAL.--_Santalum alb.u.m_.

"The santal tree perfumes, when riven, The axe that laid it low." CAMERON.

This is an old favorite with the lovers of scent; it is the wood that possesses the odor. The finest santal-wood grows in the island of Timor, and the Santal-wood Islands, where it is extensively cultivated for the Chinese market. In the religious ceremonies of the Brahmins, Hindoos, and Chinese, santal-wood is burned, by way of incense, to an extent almost beyond belief. The _Santala_ grew plentifully in China, but the continued offerings to the Buddahs have almost exterminated the plant from the Celestial Empire; and such is the demand, that it is about to be cultivated in Western Australia, in the expectation of a profitable return, which we doubt not will be realized; England alone would consume tenfold the quant.i.ty it does were its price within the range of other perfuming substances. The otto which exists in the santal-wood is readily procured by distillation; 1 cwt. of good wood will yield about 30 ounces of otto.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Santal-wood.]

The white ant, which is so common in India and China, eating into every organic matter that it comes across, appears to have no relish for santal-wood; hence it is frequently made into caskets, jewel-boxes, deed-cases, &c. This quality, together with its fragrance, renders it a valuable article to the cabinet-makers of the East.

The otto of santal is remarkably dense, and is above all others oleaginous in its appearance, and, when good, is of a dark straw color.

When dissolved in spirit, it enters into the composition of a great many of the old-fas.h.i.+oned bouquets, such as "Marechale," and others, the formulae of which will be given hereafter. Perfumers thus make what is called

EXTRAIT DE BOIS DE SANTAL.

Rectified spirits, 7 pints.

Esprit de rose, 1 pint.

Essential oil, _i.e._ otto, of santal, 3 oz.

All those EXTRACTS, made by dissolving the otto in alcohol, are nearly white, or at least only slightly tinted by the color of the oil used. When a perfumer has to impart a delicate _odeur_ to a lady's _mouchoir_, which in some instances costs "no end of money," and is an object, at any cost, to retain unsullied, it behooves his reputation to sell an article that will not stain a delicate white fabric. Now, when a perfume is made in a direct manner from any wood or herb, as tinctures are made, that is, by infusion in alcohol, there is obtained, besides the odoriferous substance, a solution of coloring and extractive matter, which is exceedingly detrimental to its fragrance, besides seriously staining any cambric handkerchief that it may be used upon; and for this reason this latter method should never be adopted, except for use upon silk handkerchiefs.

The odor of santal a.s.similates well with rose; and hence, prior to the cultivation of rose-leaf geranium, it was used to adulterate otto of roses; but is now but seldom used for that purpose.

By a "phonetic" error, santal is often printed "sandal," and "sandel."

Sa.s.sAFRAS.--Some of the perfumers of Germany use a tincture of the wood of the _Laurus sa.s.safras_ in the manufacture of hair-washes and other nostrums; but as, in our opinion, it has rather a "physicky" smell than flowery, we cannot recommend the German recipes. The _Eau Athenienne_, notwithstanding, has some reputation as a hair-water, but is little else than a weak tincture of sa.s.safras.

SPIKE.--French oil of lavender, which is procured from the _Lavandula spica_, is generally called oil of spike. (See Lavender.)

STORAX and TOLU are used in perfumery in the same way as benzoin, namely, by solution in spirit as a tincture. An ounce of tincture of storax, tolu, or benzoin, being added to a pound of any very volatile perfume, gives a degree of permanence to it, and makes it last longer on the handkerchief than it otherwise would: thus, when any perfume is made by the solution of an otto in spirit, it is usual to add to it a small portion of a substance which is less volatile, such as extract of musk, extract of vanilla, ambergris, storax, tolu, orris, vitivert, or benzoin; the manufacturer using his judgment and discretion as to which of these materials are to be employed, choosing, of course, those which are most compatible with the odor he is making.

The power which these bodies have of "fixing" a volatile substance, renders them valuable to the perfumer, independent of their aroma, which is due in many cases to benzoic acid, slightly modified by an esential oil peculiar to each substance, and which is taken up by the alcohol, together with a portion of resin. When the perfume is put upon a handkerchief, the most volatile bodies disappear first: thus, after the alcohol has evaporated, the odor of the ottos appear stronger; if it contains any resinous body, the ottos are held in solution, as it were, by the resin, and thus retained on the fabric. Supposing a perfume to be made of otto only, without any "fixing" substance, then, as the perfume "dies away," the olfactory nerve, if tutored, will detect its composition, for it spontaneously a.n.a.lyzes itself, no two ottos having the same volatility: thus, make a mixture of rose, jasmine, and patchouly; the jasmine predominates first, then the rose, and, lastly, the patchouly, which will be found hours after the others have disappeared.

SYRINGA.--The flowers of the _Philadelphus coronarius_, or common garden syringa, have an intense odor resembling the orange-blossom; so much so, that in America the plant is often termed "mock orange." A great deal of the pomatum sold as pommade surfin, a la fleur d'orange, by the manufacturers of Cannes, is nothing more than fine suet perfumed with syringa blossoms by the maceration process.

Fine syringa pomade could be made in England at a quarter the cost of what is paid for the so-called orange pomatum.

THYME.--All the different species of thyme, but more particularly the lemon thyme, the _Thymus serpyllum_, as well as the marjorams, origanum, &c., yield by distillation fragrant ottos, that are extensively used by manufacturing perfumers for scenting soaps; though well adapted for this purpose, they do not answer at all in any other combinations. Both in grease and in spirit all these ottos impart an herby smell (very naturally) rather than a flowery one, and, as a consequence, they are not considered _recherche_.

When any of these herbs are dried and ground, they usefully enter into the composition of sachet powders.

TONQUIN, or TONKA.--The seeds of the _Dipterix odorata_ are the tonquin or _coumarouma_ beans of commerce. When fresh they are exceedingly fragrant, having an intense odor of newly made hay.

The _Anthoxanthum odoratum_, or sweet-smelling vernal gra.s.s, to which new hay owes its odor, probably yields identically the same fragrant principle, and it is remarkable that both tonquin beans and vernal gra.s.s, while actually growing, are nearly scentless, but become rapidly aromatic when severed from the parent stock.

Chemically considered, tonquin beans are very interesting, containing, when fresh, a fragrant volatile otto (to which their odor is princ.i.p.ally due), benzoic acid, a fat oil and a neutral princ.i.p.al--_Coumarin_. In perfumery they are valuable, as, when ground, they form with other bodies an excellent and permanent sachet, and by infusion in spirit, the tincture or extract of tonquin enters into a thousand of the compound essences; but on account of its great strength it must be used with caution, otherwise people say your perfume is "snuffy," owing to the predominance of the odor and its well-known use in the boxes of those who indulge in the t.i.tillating dust.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Tonquin.]

EXTRACT OF TONQUIN.

Tonquin beans, 1 lb.

Rectified spirit, 1 gallon.

Digest for a month at a summer heat. Even after this maceration they are still useful when dried and ground in those compounds known as POT POURRI, OLLA PODRIA, &c. The extract of tonquin, like extract of orris and extract of vanilla, is never sold pure, but is only used in the manufacture of compound perfumes. It is the leading ingredient in _Bouquet du Champ_--The field Bouquet--the great resemblance of which to the odor of the hay-field, renders it a favorite to the lovers of the pastoral.

TUBEROSE.--One of the most exquisite odors with which we are acquainted is obtained by _enfleurage_ from the tuberose flower. It is, as it were, a nosegay in itself, and reminds one of that delightful perfume observed in a well-stocked flower-garden at evening close; consequently it is much in demand by the perfumers for compounding sweet essences.