One or two, as we said, are purely artificial imitations; coumarin, for example, the “new-mown hay” of sentimental memory, which used to be obtained from the tonka bean, is now entirely made up by the synthetic chemist. But for all the more subtle essences we have still to rely upon Nature’s laboratory. The manufacturer steps in and distils the precious essential oil certainly, but it is from flowers that he obtains it. Attar of roses, for instance, contains, in addition to natural geraniol, a number of other ingredients which have so far escaped analysis, a hundred thousand roses supplying only an ounce of it. In like manner a ton of orange blossom yields but thirty to forty ounces of the odorous essential oil. Many of the costly plant perfumes come from tropical or semi-tropical countries, such as Ceylon, Mexico, and Peru. But tropical perfumes, though strong, lack the delicacy of those found in temperate climates. Cannes, on the Riviera, gives us roses, acacias, jasmine and neroli; from Nimes come thyme, rosemary, and lavender oil; from Nizza, on the Italian Riviera, we get violets; from Sicily, oranges and lemons; from Italy, iris and bergamot. English lavender, until quite recently the most highly esteemed, came from the towns of Hitchin and Mitcham. But I am informed that the growing of lavender in England is no longer pursued with the same success as formerly, and we have to regret the disappearance of this old and truly English industry. The natural musk, curiously enough, which comes from the musk-deer of Tibet, is not used in making musk perfume. It is, however, widely employed in the perfumer’s art, as it has the curious property of enhancing the strength of other perfumes and of rendering them permanent. Civet, also an animal product, being “the very uncleanly flux” of the civet cat, has similar properties. It is added to other perfumes to strengthen them (“to set them off,” as it were) and to render them more stable. But the most curious, and also one of the most ancient of perfumes is ambergris, which is a fatty, wax-like substance found floating in the sea or washed ashore. It comes from places as far apart as the west coast of Ireland, China, and South America. The origin of this substance was for long a mystery. But we know now that it consists of the undigested remnants of cephalopods (squids and octopuses) swallowed by the spermaceti whale. Ambergris is used, like musk and civet, to render other scents durable. But while the victory of the chemist is by no means so complete as it is in the matter of the dyestuffs, research is steadily going on, and the next few years will almost certainly witness an evergrowing conquest over this department of natural chemistry.