The Art of Perfumery, and Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants

Finely pulverized galls are kneaded with a little oil to a paste, which is roasted in an iron pan until the oil vapors cease to evolve, upon which the residue is triturated with water into a paste, and heated again to dryness. At the same time a metallic mixture, which is brought from Egypt to the commercial marts of the East, and which is termed in Turkish Rastiko-petra, or Rastik-Yuzi, is employed for this purpose. This metal, which looks like dross, is by some Armenians intentionally fused, and consists of iron and copper. It obtains its name from its use for the coloration of the hair, and particularly the eyebrows--for rastik means eyebrows, and yuzi stone. The fine powder of this metal is as intimately mixed as possible with the moistened gall-mass into a paste, which is preserved in a damp place, by which it acquires the blackening property. In some cases this mass is mixed with, the powder of odorous substances which are used in the seraglio as perfumes, and called harsi, that is, pleasant odor; and of these the principal ingredient is ambergris. To blacken the hair a little of this dye is triturated in the hand or between the fingers, with which the hair or beard is well rubbed. After a few days the hair becomes very beautifully black, and it is a real pleasure to see such fine black beards as are met with in the East among the Turks who use this black dye. Another and important advantage in the use of this dye consists therein, that the hair remains soft, pliant, and for a long time black, when it has been once dyed with this substance. That the coloring properties of this dye are to be chiefly ascribed to the pyrogallic acid, which can be found by treating the mass with water, may be with certainty assumed.