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Page 7
Pliny makes a note of the tree from which frankincense is procured, and
certain passages in his works indicate that dried flowers were used in
his time by way of perfume, and that they were, as now, mixed with
spices, a compound which the modern perfumer calls _pot-pourri_, used
for scenting apartments, and generally placed in some ornamental Vase.
It was not uncommon among the Egyptian ladies to carry about the person
a little pouch of odoriferous gums, as is the case to the present day
among the Chinese, and to wear beads made of scented wood. The
"bdellium" mentioned by Moses in Genesis is a perfuming gum, resembling
frankincense, if not identical with it.
Several passages in Exodus prove the use of perfumes at a very early
period among the Hebrews. In the thirtieth chapter of Exodus the Lord
said unto Moses: "1. And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon;
of Shittim wood shalt thou make it." "7. And Aaron shall burn thereon
sweet incense every morning; when he dresseth the lamps he shall burn
incense upon it." "34. Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha,
and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall
there be a like weight." "35. And thou shalt make it a perfume, a
confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together pure and
holy." "36. And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it
before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will
meet with thee; it shall be unto you most holy." "37. And as for the
perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according
to the composition thereof; it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord."
"38. Whosoever shall make like unto that to smell thereto, shall even be
cut off from his people."
"It was from this religious custom, of employing incense in the
ancient temples, that the royal prophet drew that beautiful simile
of his, when he petitioned that his prayers might ascend before
the Lord like incense, Luke 1:10. It was while all the multitude
was praying without, at the hour of incense, that there appeared
to Zachary an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the
altar of incense. That the nations attached a meaning not only of
personal reverence, but also of religious homage, to an offering
of incense, is demonstrable from the instance of the Magi, who,
having fallen down to adore the new-born Jesus, and recognized his
Divinity, presented Him with gold, myrrh and frankincense. The
primitive Christians imitated the example of the Jews, and adopted
the use of incense at the celebration of the Liturgy. St. Ephr�m,
a father of the Syriac Church, directed in his will that no
aromatic perfumes should be bestowed upon him at his funeral, but
that the spices should rather be given to the sanctuary. The use
of incense in all the Oriental churches is perpetual, and almost
daily; nor do any of them ever celebrate their Liturgy without it,
unless compelled by necessity. The Coptic, as well as other
Eastern Christians, observe the same ceremonial as the Latin
Church in incensing their altar, the sacred vessels, and
ecclesiastical personages."--DR. ROCK'S _Hierurgia_.
Perfumes were used in the Church service, not only under the form of
incense, but also mixed in the oil and wax for the lamps and lights
commanded to be burned in the house of the Lord. The brilliancy and
fragrance which were often shed around a martyr's sepulchre, at the
celebration of his festival, by multitudes of lamps and tapers, fed with
aromatics, have been noticed by St. Paulinus:--
"With crowded lamps are these bright altars crowned,
And waxen tapers, shedding perfume round
From fragrant wicks, beam calm a scented ray,
To gladden night, and joy e'en radiant day."
DR. ROCK'S _Hierurgia_.
Constantine the Great provided fragrant oils, to be burned at the altars
of the greater churches in Rome; and St. Paulinus, of Nola, a writer of
the end of the fourth and beginning of the fifth century, tells us how,
in his times, wax tapers were made for church use, so as to shed
fragrance as they burned:--
"Lumina cerates adolentur odora papyris."
A perfume in common use, even to this day, was the invention of one of
the earliest of the Roman nobles, named Frangipani, and still bears his
name; it is a powder, or sachet, composed of every known spice, in equal
proportions, to which is added ground iris or orris root, in weight
equal to the whole, with one per cent. of musk or civet. A liquid of the
same name, invented by his grandson Mercutio Frangipani, is also in
common use, prepared by digesting the Frangipane powder in rectified
spirits, which dissolves out the fragrant principles. This has the merit
of being the most lasting perfume made.
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