



Produced by Chris Curnow, Les Galloway and the Online
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                               PERFUMES
                        AND THEIR PREPARATION.

                              CONTAINING

         COMPLETE DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING HANDKERCHIEF PERFUMES,
       SMELLING-SALTS, SACHETS, FUMIGATING PASTILS; PREPARATIONS
                 FOR THE CARE OF THE SKIN, THE MOUTH,
                  THE HAIR; COSMETICS, HAIR DYES, AND
                        OTHER TOILET ARTICLES.

                                WITH A

          DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AROMATIC SUBSTANCES; THEIR
                NATURE, TESTS OF PURITY, AND WHOLESALE
                             MANUFACTURE.

                                  BY
                  GEORGE WILLIAM ASKINSON, DR. CHEM.,

                      MANUFACTURER OF PERFUMERY.

              TRANSLATED FROM THE THIRD GERMAN EDITION BY
                             ISIDOR FURST.

         (WITH CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS BY SEVERAL EXPERTS.)

                    Illustrated with 32 Engravings.

                               NEW YORK:
                          N. W. HENLEY & CO.,
                            150 NASSAU ST.

                                LONDON:
                           E. & F. N. SPON,
                             125, STRAND.

                                 1892.




                          COPYRIGHTED, 1892,
                                  BY
                        NORMAN W. HENLEY & CO.




PREFACE.


The great progress which the art of perfumery has made during recent
times is due to several causes, the chief one of which is fully
realized only by the manufacturer on a large scale, who stands, as
it were, behind the scenes and has access to facts and information
concerning the materials he uses, which are not so easily accessible
to the dilettante in perfumery, or remain altogether unknown to the
latter. This important factor is the advance in our knowledge of the
physical and chemical properties of the several substances used in
perfumery, whereby we can better discriminate between the genuine
and the spurious, the choicest and the inferior, thus insuring, at
the very start, a satisfactory result, instead of being compelled to
resort to wasteful experimentation and empiricism. A better knowledge
has also been gained of the sources of the commercial varieties of
many of the crude products, and a better insight into the conditions
affecting their qualities or properties. A more exhaustive study of
the proximate principles of many of the essential oils has thrown
an entirely new light upon this heretofore obscure class of bodies,
placing into our hands new products of definite chemical composition,
unvarying in physical properties, and many of them valuable additions
to the perfumer’s stock of ingredients. Synthetic chemistry has also
added to the list of materials required by the perfumer, and is surely
going to add many more to it hereafter. Though some of these, like
the new artificial musk, are not yet in a condition to enter into
serious competition with the natural products, yet it is merely a
question of time when the latter need no longer be depended upon. The
increasing demands for the staple articles used by the perfumer have
also caused a large increase in the cultivation of many important
plants in various parts of the world, and have led to the establishment
of new plantations, in some cases to such an extent that the commercial
relations have been entirely revolutionized, new territories producing
larger crops and a finer product than the old home of the plant. The
exploration of hitherto unknown or imperfectly known countries has
also largely added to the perfumer’s art, and is likely to continue to
do this for a long time to come, since it is now well known that vast
districts, more particularly in tropical Africa, are inhabited by a
flora abounding in new odoriferous plants.

In spite of all this expansion of the perfumer’s stock of trade,
however, which results in the periodical introduction of new compounds,
there is a very large number of popular odorous mixtures which remain
in steady demand, having taken such firm root among civilized nations
that they are not likely to be displaced. It is more particularly with
a view to afford information regarding these latter that a work like
the present is desirable and necessary. A treatise on perfumery is
expected to place into the hands of the purchaser reasonably reliable
processes for preparing the most generally approved simple or compound
perfumes, as well as accurate information concerning the origin and
properties of the various ingredients, together with practical hints
regarding the determination of their genuineness and purity.

It is a frequent complaint of those who make preparations after
formulas published in works like the present, that they do not
succeed in obtaining fully satisfactory products. Another complaint
of purchasers of such works is this: that they fail to find formulas
yielding preparations identical in every respect with certain
celebrated perfumes which have made the reputation and fortune of
certain firms. Regarding the first complaint, we would say that
the failure lies generally with the complainant himself, through
carelessness in the selection of the materials or disregard of
the given directions. Concerning the second complaint, a moment’s
reflection must convince any one that formulas which are the result
of the study and experimentation of years, and the products of which
are the main stock of trade of certain firms, are carefully guarded,
and not likely to be communicated to others. Moreover, in many cases
even a publication of the component parts would not be of much avail,
for the manufacturer on the large scale has facilities for blending
and seasoning his products which the maker on a small scale does