Fragrance

“ 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. ”

“ The room was suddenly fragrant with a warm living perfume, a perfume that now reminded me of the one I had vaguely perceived in the draught from under the closed door of the anteroom. It was not the same perfume, by any means, though it was of the same general kind, one of those essences which float about every house where women are, combining the most diverse aromas into a single fragrance that is the alluring fragrance of feminine beauty. ”

“ Just to name a few of the plants whose scent fill the rooms, what glories are thereby called up:—Honeysuckle and Jasmine, Lily of the Valley, Lilac and Narcissus, Carnation, Syringa and Heliotrope, Thyme, Bergamot, and Aloysia! These, and a hundred other fragrances mingled together in infinitely varying combinations, give sensuous joys which even the most jaded can but appreciate. For there is probably no pleasure so democratic as that which is yielded by the fragrance of flowers and leaves. ”

“ nor did I reflect that some herbs, "though scentless when entire, yield fragrance when they're bruised." ”

“ How lovely the fragrance, how lovely the fragrance, yes, for Jōzaṭaq Manda d-Haijē, the fountain of life, which shows silence and grants hope, which keeps the prayers of the spirits and souls of the true and faithful, good and kind people in the place of life and in the light dwelling. ”

“ Fragrance to the rose, is what the soul is to the body—an imperishable essence, that lasts after the petals have meekly dropped, one by one, upon their mother-earth. A blessing upon the fragrance of sweet flowers! ”

“ Sometimes it may cause you to think of precious gums or spices from the uttermost tropics; sometimes it is a thin, thin sweetness,—like a ghost of musk. It is not personal (though physical personality certainly has an odor) : it is the fragrance of a season,—of the springtime of life. But even as the fragrance of spring, though everywhere a passing delight, varies with country and climate, so varies the fragrance of youth. ”

“ For the fragrance ascending and exhaling naturally, the organ of respiration is left destitute of enjoyment, the fragrance being carried away. As beauty, so also the flower delights when looked at; and it is meet to glorify the Creator by the enjoyment of the sight of beautiful objects. ”

“ Fragmentary preciousnesses are strewed about us. There is 'one pearl of great price.' Many fragrances come from the flowers that grow on the dunghill of the world, but they are all gathered in Him whose name is 'as ointment poured forth,' filling the house with its fragrance. ”

“ Woos the full rose o'erpowering fragrance stole. (6)
Or when the lillies, sleepier perfume, move,
Disturbed by too young sister-fawns, that play
Among their graceful stalks at morn, and love
From their white cells to lip the dews away. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Besides an infinite variety of flowers, we produce every variety of colour and perfume in the leaves of the evergreens which adorn our streets and habitations, emitting healthy and refreshing fragrance, increased by every movement of the wind. ”

“ But her fragrance--stimulating rather than sweet, like lavender and rosemary--could not be forgotten in any picture of the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries and among the women whom all the world remembers. ”

“ Sweeter than thy unguents and cosmetics and Sabean perfumes is the smell of those old books of mine, which from the years and from the ship's hold and from constant companionship with sages and philosophers have acquired a fragrance that exalteth the soul and quickeneth the intellectuals! ”

“ When we walk forth among the beauties of nature, the fresh perfumes that send forth their incense are sources both of immediate and succeeding gratification. The beautiful images of nature which rise to the mind in our imaginative hours, would lose many of their obscure but charming associations were the fields stripped of the fragrance of their greens and the flowers of their {67} sweet perfumes. Nature would appear to have lost that moving spirit of life which now ever rides upon the evening zephyrs and the summer breeze. ”

“ 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. ”

“ For a convalescent who rests all day long in a flower-garden or orchard, a scent of flowers or fruit does not more completely pervade the thousand trifles that compose his idle hours than did for me that colour, that fragrance in search of which my eyes kept straying towards the girls, and the sweetness of which finally became incorporated in me. ”

“ The healthy rose emits an agreeable odor which our senses appreciate. You may destroy the rose—it does not prove that the fragrance which it emitted does not still exist even though our senses fail to appreciate it. ”

“ Who believes that clay can adorn pure gold, or that ashes can add beauty to the pearl? An unpleasant scent cannot add sweetness to the fragrance of exquisite odour, neither can a rotten rag ornament a costly garment. ”

“ The maiden bud is as sweet to look upon as the rose, but he who loves not merely color but perfume too—I mean refreshment, emotion and edification of spirit—must turn to the full-blown flower; as the rose—growers of lake Moeris twine only the buds of their favorite flower into wreaths and bunches, but cannot use them for extracting the oil of imperishable fragrance ”

“ Persons may expatiate very eloquently on the pleasant fragrance of the herbs and flowers of foreign lands, but those who have themselves participated in the fragrant odors, in the soft breezes of those countries, can describe them in an infinitely superior manner, and to much greater advantage. ”

“ I want the flower and fruit of a man; that some fragrance be wafted over from him to me, and some ripeness flavor our intercourse. ”

“ Its colour stands to its fragrance in the same way as the body to the mind or the soul. No one regards an artificial paper-flower as a sufficient substitute for the natural flower, for the obvious reason that the fragrance, which forms the essence of the flower, cannot be reproduced. ”

“ Some flowers perfume-factories.
The perfume is not in the stem; but that from which the perfume is made is there. Something is done to the sap as it comes to the flower to make it give out the perfume. Every fragrant flower is a perfume-factory.
Some flowers have no odor, while others smell very strong. The lilac and the syringa, you know, have a strong smell. They are quite pleasant in the open air; but when they are in a closed room they are disagreeable, because their odor is so strong.
Some have no fragrance.
There is no fragrance in many of our most beautiful flowers. ”

“ I need scarcely expatiate upon the delicate and long-continuing fragrance which this luxuriant perfume imparts to all things with which it comes in contact; it is peculiarly calculated for the drawer, writing-desk, &c. since its aroma is totally unmingled with that most disagreeable effluvium, which is ever proceeding from alcohol. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Flowers yield perfumes in all climates, but those growing in the warmer latitudes are most prolific in their odor, while those from the colder are the sweetest. Hooker, in his travels in Iceland, speaks of the delightful fragrance of the flowers in the valley of Skardsheidi ”

“ The fragrance or odor of plants is owing, in nearly all cases, to a perfectly volatile oil, either contained in small vessels, or sacs within them, or generated from time to time, during their life, as when in blossom. ”

“ for from the crushed flowers of gladness on the road of life a sweet perfume is wafted over to the present hour, as marching armies often send out from heaths the fragrance of trampled plants. ”

“ We are able to imitate not only the pure rose odor, but also those of its several varieties such as the tea rose, moss rose, etc., both as to character and intensity. Fine rose odors can be produced in their full fragrance only from pomade extracts; the various rose oils furnish inferior products. ”

“ If we observe flowers with regard to their odors, we shall find that they may be divided into two categories: those which contain their perfume already formed, or have at least a considerable reserve of it, and those which have no reserve, but develop and emit their fragrance as they grow. When we rub roses or orange blossoms, for example—flowers of the former class—we perceive their fragrance very plainly. Such flowers may be treated by distillation, by the warm pomade process, or by extraction with volatile solvents, with results of a greater or less degree of perfection, but always positive ”

“ Perfumes are used sparingly by elegant people, yet a touch, a vague sense of fragrance, does add something of daintiness to a girl's toilette. It is right for you to have perfumes about you if you love them. ”

“ Görres tells us that one of the most noticeable characteristics of a body which, through regeneration, has attained to higher harmony, is the fragrance it exhales. "Just as a foul odour is indicative of diseased and discordant organic life, so inward harmony is revealed by the fragrance which proceeds from it. ”

“ Blush'd the first blush of coming day,
Faded the fairy band away.
They pass'd and only left behind
A lingering fragrance on the wind,
And on the lake, their haunted home,
One long white wreath of silver foam. ”

“ 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 ”

“ The selection depends entirely upon the judgment of the operator or the fancy of the purchaser. In general, a mixture of two or three perfumes is preferred in these countries to the pure fragrance of any single flower, and a grossness of taste is exhibited in these matters which surprises our Continental neighbours, and the inhabitants of Italy more particularly. ”

“ The translation of Spectacle de la Nature, a very pleasing work, observes that "Flowers are not only intended to beautify the earth with their shining colours, but the greatest part of them, in order to render the entertainment more exquisite, diffuse a fragrance that perfumes all the air around us ”

“ 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. ”

“ The south wind searches for the flowers whose fragrance late he bore,
And sighs to find them in the wood and by the stream no more. ”

“ I am convinced, from numerous experiments, that the value of country air lies partly in its tonic fragrance, partly in the absence of depressing, foul odours. The great cosmetic and hygienic value of deep-breathing has been proved in the chapter on the Chest. ”

“ Why do you call Lord Goring good-for-nothing?
[mabel chiltern is a perfect example of the English type of prettiness, the apple-blossom type. She has all the fragrance and freedom of a flower. ”

“ The full-blossomed trees Filled all the air with fragrance and with joy. ”

“ FOR some inexplicable reason the sense of smell does not hold the high position it deserves among its sisters. There is something of the fallen angel about it. When it woos us with woodland scents and beguiles us with the fragrance of lovely gardens, it is admitted frankly to our discourse. But when it gives us warning of something noxious in our vicinity, it is treated as if the demon had got the upper hand of the angel, and is relegated to outer darkness, punished for its faithful service. ”

“ There is no scent in it so wholesome as that of the pines, nor any fragrance so penetrating and restorative as the life-everlasting in high pastures. ”

“ A Japanese Perfume—The Kew Garden Nosegay—Millefleurs—Millefleurs et Lavender—Delcroix's Lavender—Marechale—Mousselaine—Bouquet de Montpellier—Caprice de la Mode—May Flowers—Neptune, or Naval Nosegay—Bouquet of all Nations—Isle of Wight Bouquet—Bouquet du Roi—Bouquet de la Reine Victoria—Rondeletia. (Odors properly blended produce new Fragrances.) ”