Embroidery.--Hand embroidery in the Philippine Islands has been known for over four centuries, having been introduced by Spanish, French, and Belgian nuns, who taught this artcraft to the Filipino women in their convents where exquisitely fine work was done, mainly for Church altars and tapestries used for decorations. At the present time there are scattered over the Islands, but chiefly in central Luzon, thousands of men, women and children engaged in this enterprise, which is a means of adding to their income, but is not considered the mainstay of their livelihood, as they work only when they prefer to and not of necessity. France and Belgium, where the embroidery industry was crippled by the war, are coming back into the field, but it is a question whether they will ever again be able to compete with the Philippine Islands in the quality and price of goods. The Filipinos also excel in fine art work done on piña (pineapple fabric) and silk. In the Philippines, embroidery is a part of the curriculum of all the schools, so that every girl student learns how to embroider from an early age. The demand for Philippine embroideries greatly exceeds the supply. At present the greatest demand is for ladies' underwear, but there is also a tremendous demand for infants' and children's underwear and fine frocks. The making of children's dresses, especially in the larger sizes, is probably the most complicated of all handmade merchandise, not only in the fine embroidery stitchery but also in the cutting and sewing. This class of workmanship is finding favor by leaps and bounds in the United States. [Embroidery Factories] There are about forty embroidery factories in Manila, the entire output of which is practically absorbed by the United States. Recently new markets have opened up, notably India, Australia, and China, where the dainty work of the Filipino women has been much admired. The following figures show the growth of the embroidery industry of the Philippines during the years indicated: Year Values of exports 1913 P352,338 1914 324,912 1915 735,303 1916 2,328,024 1917 3,929,318 1918 4,319,501 1919 6,913,004 1920 15,623,567 1921 10,696,207 1922 6,514,597 Perfumes.--The Orient, since the most ancient times, has been famous for perfumes, and in this regard the Philippines are not behind from other oriental countries. Over two scores of aromatic oils from plants have been studied by the Bureau of Science and found to be available for perfumery and medicine; and, as exploration progresses, undoubtedly others will become better known.