Aromatherapy

“ For example, every one is aware that a bunch of violets which is filling a room with its fragrance seems when held to the nose to have no smell at all, or at the most to have but a vague, indefinable sort of odour.
The effect, as a matter of fact, varies with the perfume employed. Some, like violets, have no smell at all. Others give a different smell when concentrated from what they give when dilute. Muskone, for one, the essential constituent of musk, has an odour of pines when concentrated ; and storax, a delightful perfume when dilute, is disagreeable when too powerful, and so on. ”

“ This preparation is sweeter than pure extract of musk made according to our first formula, and is also more profitable to the vendor. It will be seen hereafter that the original extract of musk is principally used for a fixing ingredient in other perfumes, to give permanence to a volatile odor; customers requiring, in a general way, that which is incompatible, namely, that a perfume shall be strong to smell, i.e. very volatile, and that it shall remain upon the handkerchief for a long period, ergo, not volatile! ”

“ British India and Europe consume annually, at the very lowest estimate, 150,000 gallons of perfumed spirits, under various titles, such as eau de Cologne, essence of lavender, esprit de rose, &c. The art of perfumery does not, however, confine itself to the production of scents for the handkerchief and bath, but extends to imparting odor to inodorous bodies, such as soap, oil, starch, and grease, which are consumed at the toilette of fashion. ”

“ The cold pomade being chopped up, like suet for a pudding, is now to be put into a wide-mouthed bottle, and covered with spirits as highly rectified as can be obtained, and left to digest for a week or more; the spirit then strained off will be highly perfumed; in reality it will be extract of Heliotrope, a delightful perfume for the handkerchief. The rationale of the operation is simple enough: the fat body has a strong affinity or attraction for the odorous body, or essential oil of the flowers, and it therefore absorbs it by contact, and becomes itself perfumed. ”

“ This effect is exemplified by comparison with the influence of certain colors when mixed, upon the nerve of vision: such, for instance, as when yellow and blue are mixed, the result we call green; or when blue and red are united, the compound color is known as puce or violet.
Now when the odor of lavender and odor of cloves are mixed, they produce a new fragrance, i.e. Rondeletia! It is such combinations that constitute in reality "a new perfume," which, though often advertised, is very rarely attained. ”

“ To identify oneself with any particular scent. It must be rubbed in all over the body. This is easily done by mixing the scent with a little oil and after the bath rub every part of the body with it. Also make small bags or pockets, buy the scent in powder (if possible) and fill them with it, and then pin or sew them into the dresses, stays, &c., &c. Some ladies use violet powder or orris root in this way and consequently are remarkable for the sweet odour of violets that always accompanies them. It is best to choose a scent the oil and essence of which is obtainable. ”

“ Nevertheless that certain persons exhale a naturally pleasant aroma from their bodies is true. Alexander the Great is noted by Plutarch as having so sweet an odour that his tunics were soaked with aromatic perfume, and taking a flying leap through the pages of history, we come to Walt Whitman, who had the same characteristic. Indeed, a piny aromatic odour, of considerable strength, is occasionally noticeable in certain people, and I can myself testify that it becomes stronger on the approach of their death. ”

“ During the hot seasons an attendant sprinkles water over them; this operation cools the apartment by the evaporation of the water, and, at the same time, perfumes the atmosphere, in a very agreeable manner, with the odoriferous principle of the vitivert. It has a smell between the aromatic or spicy odor and that of flowers—if such a distinction can be admitted. We classify it with orris root, not that it has any odor resembling it, but because it has a like effect in use in perfumery, and because it is prepared as a tincture for obtaining its odor. ”

“ Rich as they are in odor, they are not cultivated for their perfume. If lilies are thrown into oil of sweet almonds, or ben oil, they impart to it their sweet smell; but to obtain anything like fragrance, the infusion must be repeated a dozen times with the same oil, using fresh flowers for each infusion, after standing a day or so. The oil being shaken with an equal quantity of spirit for a week, gives up its odor to the alcohol, and thus extract of lilies may be made. ”

“ In speaking of the volatile oils used in perfumery, two artificial perfume-materials, artificial oils of bitter almonds and wintergreen have already been mentioned. There can be no doubt that when the chemical construction of volatile oils is better known, chemistry will succeed in preparing still more such combinations, valuable for perfumery, or in converting cheap volatile oils into more valuable ones, as has, for instance, been done by Bouchardat and Lafont, who have successfully converted oil of turpentine into oil of lemons. ”

“ Every fragrant portion of a plant can be used for the preparation of an aromatic substance, and therefore for the manufacture of a perfume. Hence we are unable, in the following enumeration of the aromatic vegetable substances, to make any claim to absolute completeness; for every new scientific expedition may acquaint us with hitherto unknown plants from which the finest odors may be obtained. We have said above that we have not yet even fixed in our perfumes all the odors of the known aromatic plants, and therefore there is still a large field open to the progressive manufacturer. ”

“ Despite the like chemical composition, all the essential oils display different physical qualities; they vary in density, in refractive power, in boiling-point (often by many degrees) , and, a matter of the greatest importance for our purposes, in their odor. We may state at once that but few essential oils can be said to have a pleasant odor; that of most of them is even disagreeable and narcotic to the olfactory nerves; it is only after the oil has been extremely diluted that the odor begins to become pleasant and to resemble that of the plant from which the oil was derived. ”

“ For commercial purposes, the odor of the violet is procured in combination with spirit, oil, or suet, precisely according to the methods previously described for obtaining the aroma of some other flowers before mentioned, such as those for cassie, jasmine, orange-flower, namely, by maceration, or by enfleurage, the former method being principally adopted, followed by, when "essence" is required, digesting the pomade in rectified alcohol. ”

“ It would be an error, however, were we to assume that all aromatic substances possess the same degree of productiveness; some of them, as for instance the odorous principle of orris root, have a comparatively faint smell—a fact which must be borne in mind in the combination of perfumes. Even odors having a very similar effect on the olfactory nerves differ widely in their intensity; for instance, true oil (attar) of roses possesses an intensity more than twice as great as that of the rose geranium ”

“ No perfume at all is far better than too much, for who does not look with suspicious eyes upon the woman who, when passing one on the street, seems to be in an invisible vapor of white rose or jockey club—strong enough to work on the streets?
There is a secret about it all, and such a simple one! It is merely choosing one particular odor and using it in every possible way. There is nothing sweeter than violet perfume, so suppose I illustrate with that? Begin by using orris root for your teeth, combined, of course, with the other necessary ingredients. ”

“ The odor of plants is generally due to volatile substances called volatile or essential oils. Their occurrence is not limited to special parts, they being found in the flower, seed, wood, bast, bark, leaves, and root. However, in every plant the oil occurs chiefly in certain organs, and it even happens that the oil differs with the part of the plant whence it is derived. The odors exist already formed in the living plant, or else are generated, as in the instance of bitter almonds, by some reaction between the elements which takes place during fermentation or distillation. ”

“ Besides the preparations enumerated in the preceding pages, we find in perfumery some products which are in favor on account of their fragrance and are suitable for scenting ladies’ writing-desks, sewing-baskets, boxes, and similar objects. They find their most appropriate use in places where an aromatic odor is desired, while there is no room for keeping the substances themselves. These must therefore be put into a small compass, and the aromatics chosen should be distinguished by great intensity and permanence of odor. ”

“ All the citron oils (i.e., oils of lemon, bergamot, and those with similar odor) , rose oils (oils of rose, geranium, and rhodium) , and many other sweet scents are most fragrant when dissolved in pure spirit of wine, while the odors from the animal kingdom and those of violet (violet and orris root) smell sweetest when dissolved in grain spirit.
The essences prepared from pomades or huiles antiques usually contain in solution some fat which is best removed by cooling. ”

“ A true perfume consists of a large number of odoriferous chemical compounds mixed in such proportions as to produce a single harmonious effect upon the sense of smell in a fine brand of perfume may be compounded a dozen or twenty different ingredients and these, if they are natural essences, are complex mixtures of a dozen or so distinct substances. Perfumery is one of the fine arts. The perfumer, like the orchestra leader, must know how to combine and coördinate his instruments to produce a desired sensation. ”

“ The power which these bodies have of "fixing" a volatile substance, renders them valuable to the perfumer, independent of their aroma, which is due in many cases to benzoic acid, slightly modified by an esential oil peculiar to each substance, and which is taken up by the alcohol, together with a portion of resin. When the perfume is put upon a handkerchief, the most volatile bodies disappear first: thus, after the alcohol has evaporated, the odor of the ottos appear stronger ”

“ In some few instances alcohol—i.e. rectified spirit of wine—is placed upon the odorous materials in lieu of water, which, on being distilled, comes away with the perfuming substance dissolved in it. But this process is now nearly obsolete, as it is found more beneficial to draw the oil or essence first with water, and afterwards to dissolve it in the spirit. The low temperature at which spirit boils, compared with water, causes a great loss of essential oil, the heat not being sufficient to disengage it from the plant, especially where seeds such as cloves or caraway are employed. ”

“ Strange to say, some essential oils or aromatic substances in general, develop their finest odors only when the perfumes are prepared with an alcohol from a certain source. While the charcoal treatment removes almost all the fusel oil, the remaining traces suffice to act as odorous substances in the true sense of the term and to produce with other aromatic bodies a harmony of the odor which can never be reached by the use of another variety of alcohol. ”

“ Now, when a perfume is made in a direct manner from any wood or herb, as tinctures are made, that is, by infusion in alcohol, there is obtained, besides the odoriferous substance, a solution of coloring and extractive matter, which is exceedingly detrimental to its fragrance, besides seriously staining any cambric handkerchief that it may be used upon ”

“ Now, although we candidly admit that some odors are better when prepared with grape spirit than with that from corn spirit, yet there are others which are undoubtedly the best when prepared with spirit derived from the latter source. Musk, ambergris, civet, violet, tubereuse, and jasmine, if we require to retain their true aroma when in solution in alcohol, must be made with the British spirit.
All the citrine odors, verveine, vulnerary waters, Eau de Cologne, Eau de Portugal, Eau d'Arquebuzade, and lavender, can alone be brought to perfection by using the French spirit in their manufacture. ”

“ Nature has implanted in man the instinct of finding the odor accompanying decay and putrefaction insufferable, of fleeing from it, and of going in quest of fragrant odors. Hence, in ancient times, perfume substances were highly esteemed, and an offering of them was considered a sign of the most profound reverence and homage. The early nations of the Orient especially used perfume substances in such profusion that the consumption of them by the finest lady of to-day must be called a comparatively moderate one. ”

“ For this reason perfumes should never be employed otherwise than in a very dilute condition; this necessity arises from a peculiarity of the odorous substances which when concentrated and pure have by no means a pleasant smell and become fragrant only when highly diluted. Oil of roses, of orange flowers, or of jasmine, in fact nearly all aromatic substances, have an almost disagreeable odor when concentrated; only in an extremely dilute state they yield those delightful scents which we admire so much in the blossoms from which they are derived. ”