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
There were, besides the above, several other artificial oils; they all,
however, were more or less complicated, and in so small quantities, that
it was impossible to ascertain their exact nature, and it was doubtful
whether they had the same origin as the former.
The application of organic chemistry to perfumery is quite new; it is
probable that the study of all the ethers or ethereal combinations
already known, and of those which the ingenuity of the chemist is daily
discovering, will enlarge the sphere of their practical applications.
The capryl-ethers lately discovered by Bouis are remarkable for their
aromatic smells (the acetate of capryloxide is possessed of the most
intense and pleasant smell), and they promise a large harvest to the
manufacturers of perfumes.--_Annalen der Chemie._
* * * * *
CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE "JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS."[N]
CHEMISTRY AND PERFUMERY.
SIR,
When such periodicals as "Household Words" and the "Family Herald"
contain scientific matters, treated in a manner to popularize science,
all real lovers of philosophy must feel gratified; a little fiction, a
little metaphor, is expected, and is accepted with the good intention
with which it is given, in such popular prints; but when the "Journal of
the Society of Arts" reprints quotations from such sources, without
modifying or correcting their expressions, it conveys to its readers a
tissue of fiction rather too flimsy to bear a truthful analysis.[O]
In the article on Chemistry and Perfumery, in No. 47, you quote that
"some of the most delicate perfumes are now made by chemical artifice,
and not, as of old, by distilling them from flowers." Now, sir, this
statement conveys to the public a very erroneous idea; because the
substances afterwards spoken of are named essences of fruit, and not
essences of flowers, and the essences of fruits named in your article
never are, and never can be, used in perfumery. This assertion is based
on practical experience. The artificial essences of fruits are ethers:
when poured upon a handkerchief, and held up to the nose, they act, as
is well known, like chloroform. Dare a perfumer sell a bottle of such a
preparation to an "unprotected female?"
Again, you quote that "the drainings of cow-houses are the main source
to which the manufacturer applies for the production of his most
delicate and admired perfumes."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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