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

Chemically considered, tonquin beans are very interesting, containing, when fresh, a fragrant volatile otto (to which their odor is principally due), benzoic acid, a fat oil and a neutral principal--Coumarin. In perfumery they are valuable, as, when ground, they form with other bodies an excellent and permanent sachet, and by infusion in spirit, the tincture or extract of tonquin enters into a thousand of the compound essences; but on account of its great strength it must be used with caution, otherwise people say your perfume is "snuffy," owing to the predominance of the odor and its well-known use in the boxes of those who indulge in the titillating dust.