Aromatic spirit

“ They all have faces which express something, and most of them have perfumes which penetrate to our very souls. We can the more easily understand what is called the spirit within us, by smelling the perfume of a flower. ”

“ The taste of fruits and wines, the perfume of flowers are a part of the means by which the spirit of Nature influences our most secret thoughts, and conveys to us suggestions, or carries us into states of feeling which have an enormous effect upon our thinking, though the manner in which the effect is produced is one of the deepest mysteries of our mysterious being. ”

“ Aroma is in fact, the essence of the soul, and every flavor emitted by the body represents a corresponding emotion of the soul. Happiness finds expression in a mirthful perfume, sorrow in a doleful one. Does not a hungry man on smelling a joint of meat at once rejoice? I myself have been so overcome by the scent of a favorite fruit that, under an uncontrollable impulse, I have fallen upon and devoured the whole plateful! so powerful is the sense of smell. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Among a mongrel people he contends no odor could he gentilitious; yet he nowhere denies the possibility, or even impugns the probability, of a pure people having a popular smell, a scent in which the public should share alike, an aroma as much common property as the National Anthem, a joint-stock fragrance, a commonwealth of odor, — a perfume with which no single individual could selfishly withdraw, saving, “This is my own, my proper and peculiar flavor, and no man may cry me halves in it,” as Alexander or Mahomet might have done, who, unless history lies, were divinely scented. ”

“ It is difficult to account for the pleasant odour of Saints whose pride it was to live without change of raiment, to harbour parasites, and to abstain from washing, 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ How can you say that there are no roses when they perfume the air around us, when we are steeped in their aroma? Why, there are moments when the scent is so powerful that I almost faint with delight in inhaling it! ”

“ A fragrance of myrrh and aromatic perfumes which emanated from her seemed to intoxicate me with languor and longing, as if at once all the odours of the mystic East had penetrated my quivering nostrils. No, this was certainly not a natural woman, for nothing human seemed to emanate from her. ”

“ This intoxicates one like wine—wine intoxicates the mind, but perfume intoxicates the imagination. With perfume you taste the very essence, the pure essence of things and of the universe—you taste the flowers—the trees—the grass of the fields—you can even distinguish the soul of the dwellings of olden days which sleeps in the old furniture, the old carpets, and the old curtains. ”

“ Being unlike any other aroma it cannot well be imitated, chiefly because there is nothing that we are acquainted with that at all resembles the odor of the esprit de rose, as derived from macerating rose pomade in spirit, to which, and to the extract of violet, nicely counterpoised, so that neither odor predominates, the peculiar character of "Spring Flowers" is due; the little ambergris that is present gives permanence to the odor upon the handkerchief, although from the very nature of the ingredients it may be said to be a fleeting odor. ”

“ To the chemical philosopher, the study of perfumery opens a book as yet unread; for the practical perfumer, on his laboratory shelves, exhibits many rare essential oils, such as essential oil of the flower of the Acacia farnesiana, essential oil of violets, tubereuse, jasmine, and others, the compositions of which have yet to be determined.
The exquisite pleasure derived from smelling fragrant flowers would almost instinctively induce man to attempt to separate the odoriferous principle from them, so as to have the perfume when the season denies the flowers. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ There is only one thing that, being applied, as it were, at the very centre, will diffuse itself, like some fragrant perfume, through the whole sphere, and fill the else scentless air with its rich and refreshing fragrance. ”

“ Observe how each variety of fruit is surrounded by its own peculiar aura, which mortals term aroma. It is the vital principle or Spirit essence of the fruit, and is the portion of which Spirits partake, and I can assure you that an indulgence in this direction is never followed by a fit of indigestion. You may believe my assertion that the aura of animal foods attracts Spirits of gross appetites, and the feasters at meat laden boards ever have guests they little dream of entertaining, and the drinker of intoxicants hobnobs with boon companions for whom he unwittingly pays the score. ”

“ Note.—There is considerable confusion, in works on perfumery, regarding the terms essence and extract. In French works, essence always means “essential oil.” Thus “essence de rose” is “essential oil of roses,” or “attar (otto) of roses.” Extrait (French) is used of alcoholic solutions of oils, as well as alcoholic extracts of pomades, or of substances not wholly soluble in alcohol, and also of compound liquids. In English, essence is used, and should be confined to alcoholic solutions of essential oils (“essence of lemon,” “essence of peppermint”) . ”

“ The English spirit, on the other hand, owes its odor to fusel oil. So powerful is the œanthic ether in the French spirit, that notwithstanding the addition to it of such intensely odoriferous substances as the ottos of neroli, rosemary, and others, it still gives a characteristic perfume to the products made containing it, and hence the difficulty of preparing Eau de Cologne with any spirit destitute of this substance. ”

“ Oil of lavender two drachms, oil of rosemary one drachm and a half, orange, lemon and bergamot, one drachm each of the oil; also two drachms of the essence of musk, attar of rose ten drops, and a pint of proof spirit. Shake all together thoroughly three times a day for a week. ”

“ The air that one inhales with delight is a quintessence of perfumes. The strong yet sweet odor, delicious as some dainty, seems to blend with our being, to saturate us, to intoxicate us, to enervate us, to plunge us into a sleepy, dreamy torpor. As though it were an opium prepared by the hands of fairies and not by those of druggists. ”

“ While I write the perfume of almonds and orange blossoms, of climbing vines, and roses shedding their incense in lavish fragrance steals in through the open window. A mocking bird is mimicking an oriole's warblings, and I fancy I feel at this moment as do ransomed souls when amid the mansions of the redeemed they open their eyes and know that for them joy is to be eternal. ”

“ Sometimes the air which we breathe is highly charged with the delicious aroma of fragrant blossoms—at another, with the foetid effluvia of some filthy receptacle. At one time, we inhale the delightful flavor of the rose or lily ”

“ 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. ”

“ The odours most easy to bring back were pinks, musk, violet, heliotrope, carbolic acid, the smell of the country, grass, and so on. Many, as in my own case, have to evoke the visual image first.
But if the recollection of a scene can only with difficulty, or not at all, revive the sensation of an odour, the converse is most startlingly true. For odours have an extraordinary, an inexplicable, power of spontaneously and suddenly presenting a forgotten scene to the mind, and with such nearness to reality that we are translated bodily, being caught up by the spirit, as it were, like St. ”

“ The perfume is given off in vast quantities, and is sweet beyond the power of language to describe, yet it is not the sickening, overpowering perfume of some plants.
One does not need to lift the flower to the face to get the fragrance,—the air is fairly saturated with the sweet odor. The daylight, however, puts an end to both blossom and perfume. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The essences usually sold are made by adding half an ounce of pure oil to one pint of spirits of wine.
Bergamot, Essence of.—From the peel of the bergamot lemon.
Bitter Almonds, Essence of.—This is obtained by distilling the cake or residue of the almonds after the oil has been expressed from them. It is a deadly poison, containing prussic acid, like all other nuts or leaves which possess the bitter principle. Flies drop dead when passing over the still when it is in operation. The essence usually sold is one ounce of oil to seven ounces of rectified spirit. ”

“ When essential oils are employed to convey the flavour, they are first dissolved in a little of the strongest rectified spirit of wine, in the manner explained under Essence; and when added to the spirit, they are mixed up with the whole mass as rapidly and as perfectly as possible. ”

“ 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. ”