The art of perfumery and the methods of obtaining the odours of plants : the growth and general flower farm system of raising fragrant herbs with instructions for the manufacture of perfumes for the handkerchief, scented powders, odorous vinegars and salts, snuff, dentifrices, cosmetics, perfumed soap, etc. :to which is added an appendix on preparing artificial fruit-essences, etc

Front matter

THE ART OF PERFUMERY.

T jtji

LAVKNDKU SIII.I. AT MITCHAM, SHRKKY,

Preface

TO

THE FIFTH EDITION.

By universal consent the physical faculties of man have been divided into five senses, — seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. It is of matters pertaining to the last mentioned faculty that this book mainly treats. Of the five senses, that of smelling is the least valued, and, as a consequence, is the least tutored ; but from this, our own act, we must not conclude that it is of insignificant importance to our welfare and happiness.

By neglecting to tutor the sense of smelling, we are constantly led to breathe impure air, and thus poison the body by neglecting the warning given at the gate of the lungs. Persons who use perfumes are more sensitive to the presence of a vitiated atmosphere than those who consider the faculty of smelling as an almost useless gift.

In the early ages of the world perfumes were constantly used, and they had the high sanction of Scriptural authority.

The patrons of perfumery have always been considered the most civilised and refined people in the world. If refinement consists in knowing how to enjoy the faculties which we possess, then must we learn not only how to

Preface To

VIII appreciate the harmony of colour and form, in order to please the sight ; the melody of sweet sounds, to delight the ear ; the comfort of appropriate fabrics, to cover the body, and to please the touch ; but the smelling faculty must be shown how to gratify itself with the odoriferous products of the garden and the forest.

Pathologically considered, the use of perfumes is in the highest degree prophylactic ; the refreshing feeling imparted by the citrine odours to an invalid is well known. The occasional sacrifice of incense in the fever chamber will prevent infection. The odours of plants are all antiseptic.

The commercial value of flowers is of no mean importance to the wealth of nations. But, vast as is the consumption of perfumes by the people under the rule of the British Empire, little has been done in England, either at home or in her tropical colonies, towards the establishment of flower-farms, or the production of the raw odorous substances in demand by the manufacturing perfumers of Britain ; consequently, nearly the whole are the produce of foreign countries.

The climate of some of the British colonies especially fits them for the production of odours from flowers that require elevated temperature to bring them to perfection.

But for the lamented death of Mr. Charles Piesse, Colonial Secretary for Western Australia, flower-farms would doubtless have been established in that colony long ere the publication of this work. Though thus personally frustrated in adapting a new and useful description of labour to British enterprise, I am no less sanguine of the final results in other hands.

Horticulturists being generally unacquainted with the methods of economising the scents from the flowers they cultivate, entirely lose what would otherwdse be a profitable

THE FIFTH EDITION.

IX source of income. For many ages the Cornish miners, while working the tin streams, threw the copper ore over the cliffs into the sea. How much wealth was thus cast away by ignorance, we know not ; but there is a perfect parallel between the old miners and the modern gardeners.

For more than a century prior to the Victorian era, perfumes were out of favour in England ; the people were of the idea of Socrates, Avho objected to the use of perfumery altogether. In these modern days, however, civilisation has revived, and there is restored with it one of its concomitants. It is mentioned in “ Chambers's Cyclopaedia,” published in 1740, that perfumes were disused here (in England), but were quite la mode in Italy and Spain.

In 1822, the first book devoted to this subject appeared in our language ; it was the work of Charles Lilly, edited by Colvin Mackenzie. Mr. Lilly is described as “that celebrated perfumer at the corner of Beaufort Buildings, in the Strand,” and who was spoken of in the Spectator, Tatler, and Gtiardian. Now, judging this work to represent the knowledge of the art of perfumery in this country at that period, it must be admitted that it was very imperfect : a century of neglect had done its work, and the art had been lost.

Five-and-twenty years elapsed, and the whole commerce of England began to show considerable vitality. The founding of the Australian colonies, the discovery of gold in California and in Australia, the introduction of railways, the application of steam to shipping, and other causes, has produced a great increase in our commerce. Amongst other things the export of perfumery has increased.

In Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, and Southern France, some half-dozen flowers — ^jasmine, rose, acacia, orange, bergamot, tubereuse, and violet — are extensively grown for perfumery,

X

PREFACE TO and are now easily imported for manufacture into England, Tropical produce, together with musk, ambergris, castor, and other raw materials for the perfumer’s laboratory, comes to the British market before it reaches Continental cities. There is, therefore, no natural reason why the perfumery trade should not take the highest position in this country : even if it does not exceed that of Germany and France, it might at least equal it.

The excise duty on spirits of wine, however, prevents England from fairly competing in her own colonies with her German and French neighbours in this particular trade. The spirit used by the perfumery factors of England pays twelve shillings per gallon duty ; this three hundred per cent, on the value of the raw material checks the art of perfumery. Till recently there was an excise duty on paper, which did not exist on the Continent; all sorts of ornamental card boxes for packing were employed there, giving elegance and neatness to the goods which in England it was vain to attempt with excised paper. In like manner there was an excise duty on soap. Refined scented soap was only known as a luxury, and of course this was a check to the perfumery trade. When this excise was removed, perfumers immediately sent large quantities of scented soap into the market, and it has now come into ordinary use.

Recently France has reduced the import duty on soap from i74f. to 6f. the loo kilogrammes. Portugal has been equally wise : English perfumers are already in these markets. A great impetus was given to the perfumery trade by the removal of the excise duty on glass. France used to ship all her perfumery in stoppered bottles, but England had to be content with a cork. It was well known that scented spirit could not be preserved very well in a corked bottle ; and essences sent from England to Calcutta,

THE FIFTH EDITION.

XI in the old corked bottles, suffered ten per cent, ullage. Prior to the removal of the excise on glass, 2-oz. stoppered bottles were costing 6s. 3d. per dozen ; but now they are to be had for 2s. 6d., to the great benefit of the perfumery trade.

Female labour, so useful in this business, is prohibited by present regulations within “bonded” warehouses. The workmen are also injured in the matter of their wages, as at present the regulations axe. — “no man is allowed to work after 4 o’clock ; ” the dock gates then close. Thus, for about eight months in the year, every man has to idle his time for at least three hours daily. These things, fairly considered, are a hard “set off” against the English manufacturing perfumers compared with the facilities given by the French Government to the same trade.

I am pained to say that, for want of a generous unity among the English perfumery merchants, there has been hitherto no concerted action, by deputation or otherwise, in making their especial grievances known to the Board of Trade. The Times truly observed: “There certainly never was a time when it was more imperative that trade and handicrafts should be free from all restraint.”

Still the English perfumery trade is rapidly advancing, and finding favour from Brazil to New York, from Australia to India and Russia. I think I am justified in saying that this favour is not ill-bestowed, for England now produces the finest perfumery in the world.

If this work has contributed in any measure to raise the manufacture of perfumery in England to its present mercantile importance, my labours have not been in vain ; and I am happy in thus adding to the industrial resources of my country.

The exportation of perfumery has exactly doubled in value since the date of the first edition of this work ; and xii PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION.

this, too, in spite of the almost prohibitory tariff levied by our Indian Government, and the falling off of trade with the two Americas.

To my German translator, to my two American reprinters, and to my French and Italian translators, I commend the present edition.

CHARLES H. PIESSE.

2 New Bond Street, London, VV.

June, 1891.

Contents

SECTION >'A

I. INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY 1

II. THEORY OF ODOURS 30

Section I

By Nature’s swift and secret working hand The garden glows, and fills the liberal air With lavish odours.

There let me draw

Ethereal soul, there drink reviving gales, Profusely breathing from the spicy groves And vales of fragrance. — THOMSON.

B

THE ART OF PERFUMERY.

periods. The origin of this, like that of many other arts, is lost in the depth of its antiquity ; though it had its rise, no doubt, in religious observances. Among the nations of antiquity, an offering of perfumes was regarded as a token of the most profound respect and homage. Incense, or Frankincense, which exudes by incision and dries as a gum, from Arbor thurifera, was formerly burned in the temples of all religions, in honour of the divinities that were there adored. The granite tablet attached to the breast of the Great Sphinx of Egypt (the top of which may still be seen above the sand) formed the end of a sanctuary, and on it King Thothmes IV. is represented offering on one side incense, on the other a libation of oil or ointment. Many of the primitive Christians were put to death because they would not offer incense to idols.

The origin of perfumery Pliny traces to the East ; and his opinion is fully borne out by the inspired writers, whose frequent allusions to perfumes and aromatics prove the very early and extensive employment of the luxury by nations in whose land flourish the aloe, cinnamon, sandal wood, camphor, nutmeg, and cloves ; the incense tree which it was the sacred privilege of the Sabcei to gather, the balsam trees, the sorrowful nyctenthes which pours forth its rich odours in the twilight, the Nilica in whose blossoms the bees are said to hum themselves to sleep, and the sweet Elcaya ; — these, and a forest of others, are the property of the East, and for ages were disregarded by the rest of the world. Among the Chinese, whose sensualism is so refined, says M. Claye, perfumes are largely employed in their worship, their pleasures, and their domestic pursuits. Odorous woods and resins are burnt before their altars and mixed with their viands. The disciples of Zoroaster used to offer their prayers before altars on which the sacred fire was kindled, and five times a day the priests laid on it wood and perfumes. In Greek mythology the invention and use of perfumes is attributed to the Immortals ; and, according to the fables, men derived their knowledge of them from the indiscretion of .(Eone, one of the nymphs of Venus. Homer speaks of perfumes in connection with the divinities. Whenever the Olympian gods honoured a mortal with their visits, they loft behind them an ambrosial odour, an unequivocal token of their divine nature. The practice of anointing the bodies of the dead was not confined to the Je\\s j all the

HISTORY.

nations of antiquity appear to have practised the same ceremonial. Thus we read in Homer,' that

“Venus, night and day.

Daughter of Jove, . . .

All the corpse o’erlaid with roseate oil.

Ambrosial.”

The Greeks, moreover, were much addicted to perfumes, and the art ot the perfumer was remarkably advanced among them. They carried their affectation to such a length as to keep their clothes in scented chests, as we learn from Homer in reference to Ulysses. And, according to Athenreus, they made use of scent-bags for sweetening the air as they sat at table. Like the Romans, they were accustomed to crown themselves with roses at their feasts, and the most esteemed wines of the Athenians were perfumed with violets, roses, and other aromatics. The wine of Byblos in Phoenicia was especially remarkable in this respect. Solon attempted by one of his laws to restrain the excessive indulgence. Among the Lacediemonians the luxury was always discountenanced, and perfumers were expelled the city as wasters of oil, upon the same principle that they dismissed all who dyed wool because they destroyed its whiteness. In Athens the case was different : in spite of Solon’s prohibition a taste for perfumery grew apace, and its indulgence was brought to a higher pitch of refinement than it has ev'er enjoyed before or since. Though the East supplied the Athenians with the most valued gums and ointments, they added largely to the stock of fragrant plants already in use. Apollonius, of Herophila, wrote a treatise on perfume: — “The iris,” he says, “ is best at Elis, and at Cyzicus ; perfume from roses is most ex*- cellent at Phasalis, Naples, and Capua ; that made from crocuses is in highest perfection at Soli, in Cilicia, and at Rhodes ; the essence of spikenard is best at Tanius ; the extract of vine-leaves at Cyprus, and at Adramyttium ; the best perfume from marjoram, and from apples, comes from Cos ; Egypt bears the palm for its essence of Cyprinus, and the next best is the Cyprian and Phoenician, and after them comes the Sidonian ; the perfume called Panathenaicum is made at Athens ; and those called Metopian and Mendesian are prepared with the greatest skill in Egypt.” Still the superior excellence of each perfume is owing to the purveyors, and the materials, and the artists, and not to the place itself.

The boxes in which the unguents were carried were generally made of alabaster, highly ornamented, and must have formed an expensive item in the jeweller’s bill. Vases of onyx were also in use. But if we

' Iliad, xxiii., 185, sq.

THE ART OF PERFUMERY.

may believe a passage in the “ Settler” of Alexis,* even this extravagance has been exceeded.

“ For he t’anoint himself Dipped not his finger into alabaster,

The vulgar practice of a former age ;

But he let fly four doves, with unguents drenched.

Not of one sort, but every bird a perfume bore Peculiar, and differing from the rest ;

And they hov’ring round us, from their heavy wings Showered their sweets upon our robes and furniture.

And I — be not too envious, gentlemen, —

I was myself bedewed with violet odours !”

The room in which an entertainment was given was always perfumed, either by burning incense or sprinkling the furniture with scented waters — an unnecessary measure, when we consider the lavish manner in which the guests were anointed. Each portion of the body had its appropriate oil or essence. Mint was recommended for the arms ; palm-oil for the jaws and breast ; the eyebrows and hair were anointed with an unguent extracted from marjoram ; the knees and neck with the essence of ground ivy. This last was beneficial at drinking parties, as also was the perfume obtained from roses ; the quince yielded an essence suitable to the lethargic and dyspeptic ; the perfume extracted from vine-leaves kept the mind clear, and that from white violets was good for digestion.

\r In Greece, the perfumers’ shops were open to all comers. They were used as gossiping places, where affairs of State were discussed, fashions decreed, and tales of scandal told. So that it was common at Athens to say. Come to the perfumer’s, as at Paris, Come to the caf4.

The fashion of anointing the head at banquets is said to have arisen from an idea that the heating effects of wine would be better borne when the head was wet, just as a patient who labours under a burning fever is relieved by the application of a lotion. Aristotle proved that his habits of observation had led him to a different and truer conclusion, when he attributed the frequent occurrence of grey hair to the drying nature of the spices employed in the unguents. Nor did he stand alone in condemning their excessive use. It was not without a meaning that Sophocles represented Venus, the goddess of pleasure, perfumed, and looking in a mirror ; and Minerva, goddess of intellect and virtue, as using oil and gymnastic exercises. Chrysippus sought in the derivation of the word an objection to the luxury ; but the attempt was so far-fetched as fairly to expose him to the satire of an ancient wit, that “ if there were no physicians, there would be nothing in the world so stupid as grammarians.”

* A Greek comic poet, flourished about H.C. 350.

HISTOR K

Socrates disapproved of all perfumes. “ There is the same smell,” he said, “ in a slave and a gentleman, when both are perfumed a remark that made little impression upon his pupil j^lschines, who turned perfumer, fell into debt, and attempted to borrow money upon the strength of his business. Alexander the Great was more attentive to the rebuke of his tutor, Leonidas, for his wasteful expenditure of incense in his sacrifices. “ It would be time for him,” his tutor told him, “ so to worship when he had conquered the countries that produced the frankincense.” The king remembered the lesson ; and when he had taken possession of Arabia, he despatched a cargo of frankincense and myrrh to his old tutor.

From Greece perfumes quickly made their way to Rome ; and, although their sale was at first strictly prohibited, their employment became more and more extravagant, until even the eagles and standards were thought unfit to face the barbarian hosts of Northern Europe unless they had been duly anointed before battle ; and should the engagement have proved successful, the ceremony was repeated. Such was the demand for this luxury, that the chief street of Capua was occupied solely by perfumers. The incense burnt by Nero upon the funeral pyre of his wife Poppaea exceeded the annual production of spices in Arabia. At a rather earlier period, Plautius Plancus, when proscribed by the triumvirs, was betrayed by his perfumes. His place of concealment got wind, and discovered him to his pursuers.*

After the Romans had conquered Egypt, India, and Arabia, they obtained from these countries enormous quantities of perfumes, in addition to those produced in Gaul and Italy. The commonest of their perfumes was the sweet-smelling rush. The most highly prized were the roses of Paestum, spikenard, onegalium, telinum, medebathrum, balm of Gilead, cinnamon, &c. They lavished these perfumes with a senseless prodigality in their baths, their bed-rooms, and their beds. Like the Greelcs, they had perfumes for the different parts of the body ; they mixed them with their wines, as Gallus sings : —

and they applied them to the heads of their guests.

* Fraser's Magazine.

THE ART OF PERFUMERY.

Describing the spectacles and Amphitheatre at Rome, Gibbon^ observes: — “The air of the Amphitheatre was continually refreshed by the playing of fountains, and profusely impregnated by the grateful scent of aromatics.”

Pliny speaks of numerous cosmetics in use among the Romans. They dyed their hair black with St. John’s Wort, the myrtle, the cypress, boiled leek-parings, and walnutshells.

A mixture of oil, ashes, and earthworms prevented the hair from turning white ; myrtle-berries were an antidote to baldness ; and the growth of hair was, even at that early period, promoted by the use of bear’s-grease. To make the hair flaxen they used vinegar lees or quince juice mixed with that of privet. It would seem from a passage in Propertius that some affected persons dyed the hair blue.

It was also the custom among the Roman women to darken their eyebrows.

Neque illi

Carmine was used for colouring the cheeks ; mandrake for effacing scars on the face ; and, in addition to these simple substances, the Roman perfumers had also compounded a variety of mixtures which are recorded by Pliny or mentioned in Ovid’s “ Cosmetics,” and some of which have transmitted to posterity the names of their inventors. Martial has preserved the names of Niceros, Cosmus, Folia, &c.

In the Romish Church incense is used in many cere-

^ Vol. ii. chap. xii. p. 104.

- Tibullus i. 8.

HISTORY.

monies, and particularly at the solemn funerals of the hierarchy, and other personages of exalted rank.

Pliny makes a note of the tree from which frankincense is procured ; and certain passages in his works indicate that dried flowers were used in his time by way of perfume, and that they were, as now, mixed with spices, a compound which the modern perfumer calls pot-pourri, used for scenting apartments, and generally placed in some ornamental vase.

It was not uncommon among the Egyptian ladies to carry about the person a little pouch of odoriferous gums, as is the case to the present day among the Chinese, and to wear beads made of scented wood. The “ bdellium ” mentioned by Moses in Genesis is a perfuming gum, resembling frankincense, if not identical with it.

Several passages in Exodus and also in other parts of the Scriptures ^ prove the use of perfumes at a very early period among the Hebrews. In the thirtieth chapter of Exodus the Lord said unto Moses : —

I. And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon ; of shittim wood shalt thou make it. . . . 7. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning ; when he dresseth the lamps he shall burn incense upon it. . . . 34. Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum ; these sweet spices with pure frankincense ; of each shall there be a like weight. ... 35. And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary,* tempered® together, pure and holy. ... 36. And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will

^ Gen. xxxvii. ; Exodus xxx. ; Ps. cxxxiii. ; Exodus xl. ; Numb. xvi. ; 2 Chron. xxvi. ; Is. xxxix. ; 2 Chron. ix. ; Cant. iv. ; St. Mark xiv. ; Ps. xlv. j Prov. vii. ; Est. ii. ; Cant. i. ; St. John xix. ; 2 Kings ix.

* In Drs. D’Oyley and Mant’s Bible this word “apothecry” is italicised) perfumer.

® “Tempered.” The same writers render this word salted — that is, mixed with nitre — which is probably the correct interpretation, because such a mixture of resinous substances would not burn kindly without being previously tempered” with saltpetre.

THE ART. OF PERFUMERY.

meet with thee ; it shall be unto you most holy. ... 37. And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof ; it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord. . . . 38. Whosoever shall make like unto thee to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

It was for this religious custom, of employing incense in the ancient temples, that the royal prophet drew that beautiful simile of his, when he petitioned that his prayers might ascend before the Lord like incense. It was while all the multitude was praying without, at the hour of incense, that there appeared to Zachary an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense (Luke i. 10). That the nations attached a meaning, not only of personal reverence, but also of religious homage, to an offering of incense, is demonstrable from the instance of the Magi, who, having fallen down to adore the new-born Jesus, and recognised his Divinity, presented Him with gold, myrrh, and frankincense. It does not appear, however, that the Jews made much use of perfumes in their toilet, deterred either by the severe injunctions of the law of Moses against the personal use of preparations reserved for the holy place, or by their nomadic life, which did not allow of their practising an art fitted only for an advanced civilisation. They were accustomed to anoint themselves with perfumes before meals ; but it is pretty certain that they made little progress in the art of perfumery, and contented themselves with aromatics in their natural state, or, at the most, dissolved in suitable vehicles. The primitive Christians imitated the example of the Jews, and adopted the use of incense at the celebration of the Liturgy. St. Ephraem, a father of the Syriac Church, directed in his will that no aromatic perfumes should be bestowed upon him at his funeral, but that the spices should rather be given to the sanctuary. The use of incense in all the Oriental churches is perpetual, and almost daily ; nor do any of them ever celebrate their Liturgy without it, unless compelled by necessity. The Coptic, as well as other Eastern Christians, observe the same ceremonial as the Latin Church in incensing their , altar, the sacred vessels, and ecclesiastical personages.*

The Rev. T. J. Buckton, describing the precious ointmait of the Scriptures, says : —

The sacred oil, with which the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, the golden candlestick, the table, the altar of incense, the altar of burntofferings, the laver, and all the sacred utensils, and indeed the priests themselves, were anointed, was composed of a liin of the oil of olives,

* Dr. Rock’s Hierurgia.

HISTOR K of the richest myrrh, of cassia, of cinnamon, and of sweet calamus. The proportions of the mixture were 500 parts of the myrrh and cassia, and 250 each of the cinnamon and calamus. This ointment could not be applied to any other purpose (Exod. xxx. 20-33). The Septuagint names one of the ingredients, the myrrh, (r/iipvris iKKeKTijs, which corresponds with the myrrh, fjtvpov fiapvrifiov, of Matthew (xxvi. J), described as ro^v- TiK-fis by Mark (xiv. 3), and as roxlniiios by John (xii. 3). The ointment probably prepared for Lazarus, which his sister Mary poured on the head and body of our Lord, consisted therefore of one only of the four ingredients of the sacred oil in use in the first Temple. Judas reprehended this anointing, as practised at banquets, as an extravagant luxury. So Martial (III. xii. 4) says : —

“ Qui non coenat et ungitur, Fabulle,

This view was corrected by our Lord, who says it was done preparatory to his entombment (Mark xiv. 8). Thus Jahn, in explaining the above passages in the Gospels, says ; — “ It was their custom to expend upon the dead aromatic substances, especially myrrh and aloes, which were brought from Arabia. This ceremony is expressed by the Greek verb ivTatpidCeiv [to embalm or entomb], and was performed by the neighbours and relations.”

In the other case (Luke vii. 37) the myrrh was only applied to the feet of our Lord after washing, and previous to partaking of a meal — a common practice of antiquity, and once performed by our Lord himself to his disciples ; when, however, no mention is made of anointing, it being probably too costly for general use. At Sparta, the selling of perfumed ointments was wholly prohibited ; and in Athens, men were not allowed to engage in it. Different ointments were used for different parts of the body.— Eschenburg, iii. s. 170.

Gibbon ^ says ; —

In a magnificent temple, raised on Palatine Mount, the sacrifices of the god Elagabalus (the sun) were celebrated, with every circumstance of cost and solemnity. The rarest aromatics were profusely consumed on his altar.

Horace [Carminum, 3, 14), in an ode celebrating the return of Augustus from Spain, bids his slaves go and seek for perfumes, and desires the tuneful Neaera to make haste and collect into a knot her scented hair. These passages

^ Decline a7td Fall, vol. i. chap. vi. p. 234.

lo

THE ART OF PERFUMERY.

sufficiently indicate the elegant direction which the taste of the Romans took in the days of this poet, who himself was a voluptuary in flowers and fragrances.

Perfumes were used in the Church service, not only under the form of incense, but also mixed in the oil and wax for the lamps and lights commanded to be burned in the house of the Lord. The brilliancy and fragrance which were often shed around a martyr’s sepulchre, at the celebration of his festival, by multitudes of lamps and tapers, fed with aromatics, of which camphor was an important ingredient, have been noticed by St. Paulinus : —

With crowded lamps are these bright altars crowned,

And waxen tapers, shedding perfume round From fragrant wicks, beam calm a scented ray.

To gladden night, and joy e’en radiant day.'

SEVEN-BRANCHED CANDLESTICK.

The above illustration represents the seven-branched candlestick used in the Temple of Jerusalem. In it were burned fragrant tapers shedding perfume and light around during the holy service. The sketch is taken from the sculpture on the arch of Titus, showing the spoils of the