The Art of Perfumery, George William Septimus Piesse [christmas read aloud .TXT] 📗

PHILADELPHIA:
LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON.
1857.

PRINTED BY C. SHERMAN & SON,
19 St. James Street.

By universal consent, the physical faculties of man have been divided into five senses,—seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. It is of matter pertaining to the faculty of Smelling that this book mainly treats. Of the five senses, that of smelling is the least valued, and, as a consequence, is the least tutored; but we must not conclude from this, our own act, that it is of insignificant importance to our welfare and happiness.

By neglecting to tutor the olfactory nerve, we are constantly led to breathe impure air, and thus poison the body by neglecting the warning given at the gate of the lungs. Persons who use perfumes are more sensitive to the presence of a vitiated atmosphere than those who consider the faculty of smelling as an almost useless gift.

In the early ages of the world the use of perfumes was in constant practice, and it had the high sanction of Scriptural authority.

The patrons of perfumery have always been considered the most civilized and refined people of the earth. If refinement consists in knowing how to enjoy the faculties which we possess, then must we learn not only how to distinguish the harmony of color and form, in order to please the sight, the melody of sweet sounds to delight the ear; the comfort of appropriate fabrics to cover the body, and to please the touch, but the smelling faculty must be shown how to gratify itself with the odoriferous products of the garden and the forest.

Pathologically considered, the use of perfumes is in the highest degree prophylactic; the refreshing qualities of the citrine odors to an invalid is well known. Health has often been restored when life and death trembled in the balance, by the mere sprinkling of essence of cedrat in a sick chamber.

The commercial value of flowers is of no mean importance to the wealth of nations. But, vast as is the consumption of perfumes by the people under the rule of the British Empire, little has been done in England towards the establishment of flower-farms, or the production of the raw odorous substances in demand by the manufacturing perfumers of Britain; consequently nearly the whole are the produce of foreign countries. However, I have every hope that ere long the subject will attract the attention of the Society of Arts, and favorable results will doubtless follow. Much of the waste land in England, and especially in Ireland, could be very profitably employed if cultivated with odor-bearing plants.

The climate of some of the British colonies especially fits them for the production of odors from flowers that require elevated temperature to bring them to perfection.

But for the lamented death of Mr. Charles Piesse,[A] Colonial Secretary for Western Australia, I have every reason to believe that flower-farms would have been established in that colony long ere the publication of this work. Though thus personally frustrated in adapting a new and useful description of labor to British enterprise, I am no less sanguine of the final result in other hands.

Mr. Kemble, of Jamaica, has recently sent to England some fine samples of Oil of Behn. The Moringa, from which it is produced, has been successfully cultivated by him. The Oil of Behn, being a perfectly inodorous fat oil, is a valuable agent for extracting the odors of flowers by the maceration process.

At no distant period I hope to see, either at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, or elsewhere, a place to illustrate the commercial use of flowers—eye-lectures on the methods of obtaining the odors of plants and their various uses. The horticulturists of England, being generally unacquainted with the methods of economizing the scents from the flowers they cultivate, entirely lose what would be a very profitable source of income. For many ages copper ore was thrown over the cliffs into the sea by the Cornish miners working the tin streams; how much wealth was thus cast away by ignorance we know not, but there is a perfect parallel between the old miners and the modern gardeners.

Many readers of the "Gardeners' Chronicle" and of the "Annals of Pharmacy and Chemistry" will recognize in the following pages much matter that has already passed under their eyes.

To be of the service intended, such matter must however have a book form; I have therefore collected from the above-mentioned periodicals all that I considered might be useful to the reader.

To Sir Wm. Hooker, Dr. Lindley, Mr. W. Dickinson, and Mr. W. Bastick, I respectfully tender my thanks for the assistance they have so freely given whenever I have had occasion to seek their advice.

Perfumes in use from the Earliest Periods—Origin lost in the Depth of its Antiquity—Possibly derived from Religious Observances—Incense or Frankincense burned in Honor of the Divinities—Early Christians put to Death for refusing to offer Incense to Idols—Use of perfumes by the Greeks and Romans—Pliny and Seneca observe that some of the luxurious People scent themselves Three Times a Day—Use of Incense in the Romish Church—Scriptural Authority for the use of Perfume—Composition of the Holy Perfume—The Prophet's Simile—St. Ephræm's Will—Fragrant Tapers—Constantine provides fragrant Oil to burn at the Altars—Frangipanni—Trade in the East in Perfume Drugs—The Art of Perfumery of little Distinction in England—Solly's admirable Remarks on Trade Secrets—British Horticulturists neglect to collect the Fragrance of the Flowers they cultivate—The South of France the principal Seat of the Art—England noted for Lavender—Some Plants yield more than one Perfume—Odor of Plants owing to a peculiar Principle known as Essential Oil or Otto

Consumption of Perfumery—Methods of obtaining the Odors:—Expression, Distillation, Maceration, Absorption

Steam-Still—Macerating Pan—Ottos exhibited at the Crystal Palace of 1851—Simple Extracts:—Allspice, Almond, Artificial Otto of Almonds, Anise, Balm, Balsams, Bay, Bergamot, Benzoin, Caraway, Cascarilla, Cassia, Cassie, Cedar, Cedrat, Cinnamon, Citron, Citronella, Clove, Dill, Eglantine or Sweet Brier, Elder, Fennel, Flag, Geranium, Heliotrope, Honeysuckle, Hovenia, Jasmine, Jonquil, Laurel, Lavender, Lemon-grass, Lilac, Lily, Mace, Magnolia, Marjoram, Meadow-sweet, Melissa, Mignonette, Miribane, Mint, Myrtle, Neroli, Nutmeg, Olibanum, Orange, Orris, Palm, Patchouly, Sweet Pea (Theory of Odors), Pineapple, Pink, Rhodium (Rose yields two Odors), Rosemary, Sage, Santal, Sassafras, Spike, Storax, Syringa, Thyme, Tonquin, Tuberose, Vanilla, Verbena or Vervain, Violet, Vitivert, Volkameria, Wallflower, Winter-green—Duty on Essential Oils—Quantity imported—Statistics, &c.,

Ambergris—Civet—Musk

Smelling Salts:—Ammonia, Preston Salts, Inexhaustible Salts, Eau de Luce, Sal Volatile Acetic Acid and its Use in Perfumery.—Aromatic Vinegar, Henry's Vinegar, Vinaigre à la Rose, Four Thieves' Vinegar, Hygienic Vinegar, Violet Vinegar, Toilet Vinegar, Vinaigre de Cologne

Proposed Use of the Term "Otto" to denote the odoriferous Principle of Plants

Compound Odors:—The Alhambra Perfume—The Bosphorus Bouquet—Bouquet d'Amour—Bouquet des Fleurs du Val d'Andorre—Buckingham Palace Bouquet—Délices—The Court Nosegay—Eau de Chypre—The Empress Eugenie's Nosegay—Esterhazy—Ess Bouquet—Eau de Cologne. (French and English Spirit.) Flowers of Erin—Royal Hunt Bouquet—Extract of Flowers—The Guards' Bouquet—Italian Nosegay—English Jockey Club—French Jockey Club. (Difference of the Odor of English and French Perfumes due to the Spirit of Grape and Corn Spirit.) A Japanese Perfume—The Kew Garden Nosegay—Millefleurs—Millefleurs et Lavender—Delcroix's Lavender—Marechale—Mousselaine—Bouquet de Montpellier—Caprice de la Mode—May Flowers—Neptune, or Naval Nosegay—Bouquet of all Nations—Isle of Wight Bouquet—Bouquet du Roi—Bouquet de la Reine Victoria—Rondeletia. (Odors properly blended produce new Fragrances.) Bouquet Royal—Suave—Spring Flowers—Tulip Nosegay—The Wood Violet—Windsor Castle Bouquet—Yacht Club Nosegay

The ancient Perfumes were only odoriferous Gums—Abstaining from the Use of Perfumes a Sign of Humiliation—The Vase at Alnwick Castle—Sachet Powders—Sachet au Chypre—Sachet à la Frangipanne—Heliotrope Sachet—Lavender Sachet—Sachet à la Maréchale—Mousselaine—Millefleur—Portugal Sachet—Patchouly Sachet—Pot Pourri—Olla Podrida—Rose Sachet—Santal-wood Sachet—Sachet (without a name)—Vervain Sachet—Vitivert—Violet Sachet—Perfumed Leather—Russia Leather—Peau d'Espagne—Perfumed Letter Paper—Perfumed Book-markers—Cassolettes, and Printaniers

Pastils—The Censer—Vase in the British Museum—Method of using the Censer—Incense for Altar Service—Yellow Pastils—Dr. Paris's Pastils—Perfumer's Pastils—Piesse's Pastils—Fumigation—The Perfume Lamp—Incandescent Platinum—Eau à Bruler—Eau pour Bruler—Fumigating Paper—Perfuming Spills—Odoriferous Lighters

Perfumed Soap—Ancient Origin of Soap—Early Records of the Soap Trade in England—Perfumers not Soap Makers—Remelting—Primary Soaps—Curd Soap—Oil Soap—Castile Soap—Marine Soap—Yellow Soap—Palm Soap—Excise Duty on Soap—Fig Soft Soap—Naples Soft Soap—The remelting Process—Soap cutting—Soap stamping—Scented Soaps

Almond Soap—Camphor Soap—Honey Soap—White Windsor Soap—Brown Windsor Soap—Sand Soap—Fuller's Earth Soap—Scenting Soaps Hot—Scenting Soaps Cold—Colored Soaps:—Red, Green, Blue, Brown Soaps—Otto of Rose Soap—Tonquin Musk Soap—Orange-Flower Soap—Santal-wood Soap—Spermaceti Soap—Citron Soap—Frangipanne Soap—Patchouly Soap—Soft or Potash Soaps—Saponaceous Cream of Almonds—Soap Powders—Rypophagon Soap—Ambrosial Cream—Transparent soft Soap—Transparent hard Soap—Medicated Soaps—Juniper Tar Soap—Iodine Soap—Sulphur Soap—Bromine Soap—Creosote Soap—Mercurial Soap—Croton Oil Soap—Their Use in Cutaneous Diseases

Form Emulsions or Milks when mixed with Water—Prone to Change—Amandine—Olivine—Honey and Almond Paste—Pure Almond Paste—Almond Meal—Pistachio Nut Meal—Jasmine Emulsion—Violet Emulsion

Liebig's notice of Almond Milk—Milk of Roses—Milk of Almonds—Milk of Elder—Milk of Dandelion—Milk of Cucumber—Essence of Cucumber—Milk of Pistachio Nuts—Lait Virginal—Extract of Elder Flowers

Manipulation—Cold Cream of Almonds—Violet Cold Cream—Imitation Violet Cold Cream—Cold Cream of various Flowers—Camphor Cold Cream—Cucumber Cold Cream—Piver's Pomade of Cucumber—Pomade Divine—Almond Balls—Camphor Balls—Camphor Paste—Glycerine Balsam—Rose Lip Salve—White Lip Salve—Common Lip Salve

Pomatum, as its name implies, originally made with Apples—Scentless Grease—Enfleurage and Maceration process—Acacia, or Cassie Pomade—Benzoin Pomade and Oil—Vanilla Oil and Pomade—Pomade called Bear's Grease—Circassian Cream—Balsam of Flowers—Crystallized Oils—Castor Oil Pomatum—Balsam of Neroli—Marrow Cream—Marrow Pomatum—Violet Pomatum—Pomade Double, Millefleurs—Pomade à la Heliotrope—Huile Antique—Philocome—Pomade Hongroise—Hard or Stick Pomatums—Black and Brown Cosmetique

Painting the Face universal among the Women of Egypt—Kohhl, the Smoke of Gum Labdanum, used by the Girls of Greece to color the Lashes and Sockets of the Eye—Turkish Hair Dye—Rastikopetra Dye—Litharge Dye—Silver Dye—Hair Dyes, with Mordant—Inodorous Dye—Brown and Black Hair Dye—Liquid Lead Dye—Depilatory, Rusma

Violet Powder—Rose Face Powder—Perle Powder—Liquid Blanc for Theatrical Use—Calcined Talc—Rouge and Red Paints—Bloom of Roses—Carmine Toilet Rouge—Carthamus Flowers—Pink Saucers—Crépon Rouge

Mialhi's Tooth Powder—Camphorated Chalk—Quinine Tooth Powder—Prepared Charcoal—Peruvian Bark Powder—Homœopathic Chalk—Cuttle-Fish Powder—Borax and Myrrh—Farina Piesse's Dentifrice—Rose Tooth Powder—Opiate Paste—Violet Mouth Wash—Eau Botot—Botanic Styptic—Tincture of Myrrh and Borax—Myrrh with Eau de Cologne—Camphorated Eau de Cologne

Rosemary Hair Wash—Athenian Water—Vegetable or Botanic Hair Wash—Astringent Extract of Roses and Rosemary—Saponaceous Wash—Egg Julep—Bandolines—Rose and Almond Bandoline