The Art of Perfumery, and Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants: With Instructions for the Manufacture of Perfumes for the Handkerchief, Scented Powders, Odorous Vinegars, Dentifrices, Pomatums, Cosmetics, Perfumed Soap, Etc., to which is Added an Appendix on Preparing Artificial Fruit-Essences, Etc. — John Shaqi
The Art of Perfumery, and Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants: With Instructions for the Manufacture of Perfumes for the Handkerchief, Scented Powders, Odorous Vinegars, Dentifrices, Pomatums, Cosmetics, Perfumed Soap, Etc., to which is Added an Appendix on Preparing Artificial Fruit-Essences, Etc.Piesse, G. W. Septimus (George William Septimus)
History
The Art of Perfumery, and Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants: With Instructions for the Manufacture of Perfumes for the Handkerchief, Scented Powders, Odorous Vinegars, Dentifrices, Pomatums, Cosmetics, Perfumed Soap, Etc., to which is Added an Appendix on Preparing Artificial Fruit-Essences, Etc.
Piesse, G. W. Septimus (George William Septimus)
Cosmetics; Perfumes
Flowers yield perfumes in all climates, but those growing in the warmer
latitudes are most prolific in their odor, while those from the colder
are the sweetest. Hooker, in his travels in Iceland, speaks of the
delightful fragrance of the flowers in the valley of Skardsheidi; we
know that winter-green, violets, and primroses are found here, and the
wild thyme, in great abundance. Mr. Louis Piesse, in company with
Captain Sturt, exploring the wild regions of South Australia, writes:
"The rains have clothed the earth with a green as beautiful as a
Shropshire meadow in May, and with flowers, too, as sweet as an English
violet; the pure white anemone resembles it in scent. The Yellow Wattle,
when in flower, is splendid, and emits a most fragrant odor."
Though many of the finest perfumes come from the East Indies, Ceylon,
Mexico, and Peru, the South of Europe is the only real garden of utility
to the perfumer. Grasse and Nice are the principal seats of the art;
from their geographical position, the grower, within comparatively short
distances, has at command that change of climate best fitted to bring to
perfection the plants required for his trade. On the seacoast his Cassiae
grows without fear of frost, one night of which would destroy all the
plants for a season; while, nearer the Alps, his violets are found
sweeter than if grown in the warmer situations, where the orange tree
and mignionette bloom to perfection. England can claim the superiority
in the growth of lavender and peppermint; the essential oils extracted
from these plants grown at Mitcham, in Surrey, realize eight times the
price in the market of those produced in France or elsewhere, and are
fully worth the difference for delicacy of odor.
The odors of plants reside in different parts of them, sometimes in the
roots, as in the iris and vitivert; the stem or wood, in cedar and
sandal; the leaves, in mint, patchouly, and thyme; the flower, in the
roses and violets; the seeds in the Tonquin bean and caraway; the bark,
in cinnamon, &c.
Some plants yield more than one odor, which are quite distinct and
characteristic. The orange tree, for instance, gives three--from the
leaves one called _petit grain_; from the flowers we procure _neroli_;
and from the rind of the fruit, essential oil of orange, _essence of
Portugal_. On this account, perhaps, this tree is the most valuable of
all to the operative perfumer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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