Part 329

It is true this method requires patience, perseverance, and a fine sense of smell. One smelling test should not be considered sufficient, but the glasses should be carried to the nose as often as possible.

«Fixing Agents in Perfumes.»—The secret of making perfumery lies mainly in the choice of the fixing agents—i. e., those bodies which intensify and hold the floral odors. The agents formerly employed were musk, civet, and ambergris, all having a heavy and dull animal odor, which is the direct antithesis of a floral fragrance. A free use of these bodies must inevitably mean a perfume which requires a label to tell what it is intended for, to say nothing of what it is. To-day there is no evidence that the last of these (ambergris) is being used at all in the newer perfumes, and the other two are employed very sparingly, if at all. The result is that the newer perfumes possess a fragrance and a fidelity to the flowers that they imitate which is far superior to the older perfumes. Yet the newer perfume is quite as prominent and lasting as the old, while it is more pleasing. It contains the synthetic odors, with balsams or rosinous bodies as fixatives, and employs musk and civet only in the most sparing manner in some of the more sensitive odors. As a fixing agent benzoin is to be recommended. Only the best variety should be used, the Siamese, which costs 5 or 6 times as much as that from Sumatra. The latter has a coarse pungent odor.

Musk is depressing, and its use in cologne in even the minutest quantity will spoil the cologne. The musk lingers after the lighter odors have disappeared, and a sick person is pretty sure to feel its effects. Persons in vigorous health will not notice the depressing effects of musk, but when lassitude prevails these are very unpleasant. Moreover, it is not a necessity in these toilet accessories, either as a blending or as a fixing agent. Its place is better supplied by benzoin for both purposes.

As to alcohol, a lot of nonsense has been written about the necessity of extreme care in selecting it, such as certain kinds requiring alcohol made from grapes and others demanding extreme purification, etc. A reasonable attention to a good quality of alcohol, even at a slight increase in cost, will always pay, but, other things being equal, a good quality of oils in a poor quality of alcohol will give far better satisfaction than the opposite combination. The public is not composed of exacting connoisseurs, and it does not appreciate extreme care or expense in either particular. A good grade of alcohol, reasonably free from heavy and lingering foreign odors, will answer practically all the requirements.

«General Directions for Making Perfumes.»—It is absolutely essential for obtaining the best results to see that all vessels are perfectly clean. Always employ alcohol, 90 per cent, deodorized by {513} means of charcoal. When grain musk is used as an ingredient in liquid perfumes, first rub down with pumice stone, then digest in a little hot water for 2 or 3 hours; finally add to alcohol. The addition of 2 or 3 minims of acetic acid will improve the odor and also prevent accumulation of NH_〈3〉. Civet and ambergris should also be thoroughly rubbed down with some coarse powder, and transferred directly to alcohol.

Seeds, pods, bark rhizomes, etc., should be cut up in small pieces or powdered.

Perfumes improve by storing. It is a good plan to tie over the mouth of the containing vessel some fairly thick porous material, and to allow the vessel to stand for a week or two in a cool place, instead of corking at once.

It is perhaps unnecessary to add that as large a quantity as possible should be decanted, and then the residue filtered. This obviously prevents loss by evaporation. Talc or kieselguhr (amorphous SiO_〈2〉) are perhaps the best substances to add to the filter in order to render liquid perfumes bright and clear, and more especially necessary in the case of aromatic vinegars.

The operations involved in making perfumes are simple; the chief thing to be learned, perhaps, is to judge of the quality of materials.

The term “extract,” when used in most formulas, means an alcoholic solution of the odorous principles of certain flowers obtained by enfluerage; that is, the flowers are placed in contact with prepared grease which absorbs the odorous matter, and this grease is in turn macerated with alcohol which dissolves out the odor. A small portion of the grease is taken up also at ordinary temperatures; this is removed by filtering the “extract” while “chilled” by a freezing mixture. The extracts can be either purchased or made directly from the pomade (as the grease is called). To employ the latter method successfully some experience may be necessary.

The tinctures are made with 95 per cent deodorized alcohol, enough menstruum being added through the marc when filtering to bring the finished preparation to the measure of the menstruum originally taken.

The glycerine is intended to act as a “fixing” agent—that is, to lessen the volatility of the perfumes.

«Tinctures for Perfumes.»—

a. Ambergris, 1 part; alcohol, 96 per cent, 15 parts.

b. Benzoin, Sumatra, 1 part; alcohol, 96 per cent, 6 parts.

c. Musk, 1 part; distilled water, 25 parts; spirit, 96 per cent, 25 parts.

d. Musk, 1 part; spirit, 96 per cent, 50 parts; for very oleiferous compositions.

e. Peru balsam, 1 part in spirit, 96 per cent, 7 parts; shake vigorously.

f. Storax, 1 part in spirit, 96 per cent, 15 parts.

g. Powdered Tolu balsam, 1 part; spirit, 96 per cent, 6 parts.

h. Chopped Tonka beans, 1 part; spirit, 60 per cent, 6 parts; for compositions containing little oil.

i. Chopped Tonka beans, 1 part; spirit, 96 per cent, 6 parts; for compositions containing much oil.

j. Vanilla, 1 part; spirit, 60 per cent, 6 parts; for compositions containing little oil.

k. Vanilla, 1 part; spirit, 96 per cent, 6 parts; for compositions containing much oil.

l. Vanillin, 20 parts; spirit, 96 per cent, 4,500 parts.

m. Powdered orris root, 1 part; spirit, 96 per cent, 5 parts.

n. Grated civet, 1 part in spirit, 96 per cent, 10 parts.

«Bay Rum.»—Bay rum, or more properly bay spirit, may be made from the oil with weak alcohol as here directed: