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

PINK.--Dianthus Caryophyllus.--The clove pink emits a most fragrant odor, "especially at night," says Darwin. "The lavish pink that scents the garden round," is not, however, at present applied in perfumery, except in name. IMITATION ESSENCE OF CLOVE PINK. Esprit rose, 1/2 pint. " fleur d'orange, 1/4 " " " de cassie, 1/4 " " vanilla, 2 oz. Oil of cloves, 10 drops. It is remarkable how very much this mixture resembles the odor of the flower, and the public never doubt its being the "real thing." RHODIUM.--When rose-wood, the lignum of the Convolvulus scoparius, is distilled, a sweet-smelling oil is procured, resembling in some slight degree the fragrance of the rose, and hence its name. At one time, that is, prior to the cultivation of the rose-leaf geranium, the distillates from rose-wood and from the root of the Genista canariensis (Canary-rose-wood), were principally drawn for the adulteration of real otto of roses, but as the geranium oil answers so much better, the oil of rhodium has fallen into disuse, hence its comparative scarcity in the market at the present day, though our grandfathers knew it well. One cwt. of wood yields about three ounces of oil. Ground rose-wood is valuable as a basis in the manufacture of sachet powders for perfuming the wardrobe. The French have given the name jacaranda to rose-wood, under the idea that the plant called jacaranda by the Brazilians yields it, which is not the case; "the same word has perhaps been the origin of palisander--palixander, badly written."--Burnett.