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Page 12
"Mark well the flow'ring almonds in the wood;
If od'rous blooms the bearing branches load,
The glebe will answer to the sylvan reign,
Great heats will follow, and large crops of grain."
VIRGIL.
This perfume has been much esteemed for many ages. It may be procured by
distilling the leaves of any of the laurel tribe, and the kernels of
stone fruit; for trade purposes, it is obtained from the bitter
almonds, and exists in the skin or pellicle that covers the seed after
it is shelled. In the ordinary way, the almonds are put into the press
for the purpose of obtaining the mild or fat oil from the nut; the cake
which is left after this process is then mixed with salt and water, and
allowed to remain together for about twenty-four hours prior to
distillation. The reason for moistening the cake is well understood to
the practical chemist, and although we are not treating the subject of
perfumery in a chemical sense, but only in a practical way, it may not
be inappropriate here to observe, that the essential oil of almonds does
not exist ready formed to any extent in the nut, but that it is produced
by a species of fermentation, from the amygdalin and emulsine contained
in the almonds, together with the water that is added. Analogous
substances exist in laurel leaves, and hence the same course is to be
pursued when they are distilled. Some manufacturers put the moistened
cake into a bag of coarse cloth, or spread it upon a sieve, and then
force the stream through it; in either case, the essential oil of the
almond rises with the watery vapor, and is condensed in the still-worm.
In this concentrated form, the odor of almonds is far from agreeable;
but when diluted with spirit, in the proportion of about one and a half
ounce of the oil to a gallon of spirit or alcohol, it is very pleasant.
[Illustration: Almond.]
The essential oil of almonds, enters into combination with soap, cold
cream, and many other materials prepared by the perfumer; for which see
their respective titles.
Fourteen pounds of the cake yield about one ounce of essential oil.
In experiments with this substance, it must be carefully remembered that
it is exceedingly _poisonous_, and, therefore, great caution is
necessary in its admixture with substances used as a cosmetic, otherwise
dangerous results may ensue.
_Artificial Otto of Almonds._--Five or six years ago, Mr. Mansfield, of
Weybridge, took out a patent for the manufacture of otto of almonds from
benzole. (Benzole is obtained from tar oil.) His apparatus, according to
the Report of the juries of the 1851 Exhibition, consists of a large
glass tube in the form of a coil, which at the upper end divides into
two tubes; each of which is provided with a funnel. A stream of nitric
acid flows slowly into one of the funnels, and benzole into the other.
The two substances meet at the point of union of the tubes, and a
combination ensues with the evolution of heat. As the newly formed
compound flows down through the coil it becomes cool, and is collected
at the lower extremity; it then requires to be washed with water, and
lastly with a dilute solution of carbonate of soda, to render it fit for
use. Nitro-benzole, which is the chemical name for this artificial otto
of almonds, has a different odor to the true otto of almonds, but it can
nevertheless be used for perfuming soap. Mr. Mansfield writes to me
under date of January 3d, 1855:--"In 1851, Messrs. Gosnell, of Three
King Court, began to make this perfume under my license; latterly I
withdrew the license from them by their consent, and since then it is
not made that I am aware of." It is, however, quite common in Paris.
ANISE.--The odorous principle is procured by distilling the
seeds of the plant _Pimpinella anisum_; the product is the oil of
aniseed of commerce. As it congeals at a temperature of about 50� Fahr.,
it is frequently adulterated with a little spermaceti, to give a certain
solidity to it, whereby other cheaper essential oils can be added to it
with less chance of detection. As the oil of aniseed is quite soluble in
spirit, and the spermaceti insoluble, the fraud is easily detected.
This perfume is exceedingly strong, and is, therefore, well adapted for
mixing with soap and for scenting pomatums, but does not do nicely in
compounds for handkerchief use.
BALM, oil of Balm, called also oil of Melissa, is obtained by
distilling the leaves of the _Melissa officinalis_ with water; it comes
from the still tap with the condensed steam or water, from which it is
separated with the tap funnel. But it is very little used in perfumery,
if we except its combination in _Aqua di Argento_.
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