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Page 101
There were, besides the above, several other artificial oils; they all,
however, were more or less complicated, and in so small quantities, that
it was impossible to ascertain their exact nature, and it was doubtful
whether they had the same origin as the former.
The application of organic chemistry to perfumery is quite new; it is
probable that the study of all the ethers or ethereal combinations
already known, and of those which the ingenuity of the chemist is daily
discovering, will enlarge the sphere of their practical applications.
The capryl-ethers lately discovered by Bouis are remarkable for their
aromatic smells (the acetate of capryloxide is possessed of the most
intense and pleasant smell), and they promise a large harvest to the
manufacturers of perfumes.--_Annalen der Chemie._
* * * * *
CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE "JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS."[N]
CHEMISTRY AND PERFUMERY.
SIR,
When such periodicals as "Household Words" and the "Family Herald"
contain scientific matters, treated in a manner to popularize science,
all real lovers of philosophy must feel gratified; a little fiction, a
little metaphor, is expected, and is accepted with the good intention
with which it is given, in such popular prints; but when the "Journal of
the Society of Arts" reprints quotations from such sources, without
modifying or correcting their expressions, it conveys to its readers a
tissue of fiction rather too flimsy to bear a truthful analysis.[O]
In the article on Chemistry and Perfumery, in No. 47, you quote that
"some of the most delicate perfumes are now made by chemical artifice,
and not, as of old, by distilling them from flowers." Now, sir, this
statement conveys to the public a very erroneous idea; because the
substances afterwards spoken of are named essences of fruit, and not
essences of flowers, and the essences of fruits named in your article
never are, and never can be, used in perfumery. This assertion is based
on practical experience. The artificial essences of fruits are ethers:
when poured upon a handkerchief, and held up to the nose, they act, as
is well known, like chloroform. Dare a perfumer sell a bottle of such a
preparation to an "unprotected female?"
Again, you quote that "the drainings of cow-houses are the main source
to which the manufacturer applies for the production of his most
delicate and admired perfumes."
Shade of Munchausen! must I refute this by calling your attention to the
fact that in the south of France more than 80,000 persons are employed,
directly and indirectly, in the cultivation of flowers, and in the
extraction of their odors for the use of perfumers? that Italy
cultivates flowers for the same purpose to an extent employing land as
extensive as the whole of some English counties? that tracts of
flower-farms exist in the Balkan, in Turkey, more extensive than the
whole of Yorkshire? Our own flower-farms at Mitcham, in Surrey, need not
be mentioned in comparison, although important. These, sir, are the main
sources of perfumes. There are other sources at Thibet, Tonquin, and in
the West Indies; but enough has been said, I hope, to refute the
cow-house story. This story is founded on the fact that Benzoic acid
_can be_ obtained from the draining of stables, and that Benzoic acid
has rather a pleasant odor. Some of the largest wholesale perfumers use
five or six pounds of gum benzoin per annum, but none use the benzoic
acid. The lozenge-makers consume the most of this article when prepared
for commercial purposes; as also the fruit essences. Those of your
readers interested in what _really is used_ in perfumery, are referred
to the last six numbers of the "Annals of Pharmacy and Practical
Chemistry," article "Perfumery."
Your obedient servant,
SEPTIMUS PIESSE.
CHEMISTRY AND PERFUMERY.[P]
SIR,
The discussion about chemistry and perfumery, in reality amounts to
this: Mr. Septimus Piesse confines the term "perfumery" to such things
as Eau de Cologne, &c.; perfumed soaps, groceries, &c., he does not
appear to class as "perfumery." Now the artificial scents are as yet
chiefly used for the latter substances, which in common language, and, I
should say, in a perfumer's nomenclature also, would be included in
perfumery. The authority for cows' urine being used for perfumery is to
be found in a little French work called, I believe, "La Chimie de
l'Odorat" in which a full description is given of the collection of
fresh urine and its application to this purpose. I need scarcely say,
that it is the benzoic acid of the urine which is the odoriferous
principle.
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