LAUREL.--By distillation from the berries of the _Laurus nobilis_, and from the leaves of the _Laurus cerasus_, an oil and perfumed water are procurable of a very beautiful and fragrant character. Commercially, however, it is disregarded, as from the similarity of odor to the oil distilled from the bitter almond, it is rarely, if ever, used by the perfumer, the latter being more economical. LAVENDER.--The climate of England appears to be better adapted for the perfect development of this fine old favorite perfume than any other on the globe. "The ancients," says Burnett, "employed the flowers and the leaves to aromatize their baths, and to give a sweet scent to water in which they washed; hence the generic name of the plant, _Lavandula_." Lavender is grown to an enormous extent at Mitcham, in Surrey, which is the seat of its production, in a commercial point of view. Very large quantities are also grown in France, but the fine odor of the British produce realizes in the market four times the price of that of Continental growth. Burnett says that the oil of _Lavandula spica_ is more pleasant than that derived from the other species, but this statement must not mislead the purchaser to buy the French spike lavender, as it is not worth a tenth of that derived from the _Lavandulae verae_. Half-a-hundred weight of good lavender flowers yield, by distillation, from 14 to 16 oz. of essential oil. All the inferior descriptions of oil of lavender are used for perfuming soaps and greases; but the best, that obtained from the Mitcham lavender, is entirely used in the manufacture of what is called lavender water, but which, more properly, should be called essence or extract of lavender, to be in keeping with the nomenclature of other essences prepared with spirit. The number of formulae published for making a liquid perfume of lavender is almost endless, but the whole of them may be resolved into essence of lavender, simple; essence of lavender, compound; and lavender water. There are two methods of making essence of lavender:--1. By distilling a mixture of essential oil of lavender and rectified spirit; and the other--2. By merely mixing the oil and the spirit together. The first process yields the finest quality: it is that which is adopted by the firm of Smyth and Nephew, whose reputation for this article is such that it gives a good character in foreign markets, especially India, to all products of lavender of English manufacture. Lavender essence, that which is made by the still, is quite white, while that by mixture only always has a yellowish tint, which by age becomes darker and resinous. SMYTH'S LAVENDER. To produce a very fine distillate, take-- Otto of English Lavender, 4 oz. Rectified spirit (60 over proof), 5 pints. Rose-water, 1 pint.