Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 December 1902 — Perfumes and Health. [ARTICLE]

Perfumes and Health.

Pure violet essence is said to be especially suitable to nervous people, but It must be obtained from the flowers themselves, not from the chemical imitations. Chemically derived perfumes are Irritant, poisonous even, to persons of especially sensitive constitution. True flower scents are obtained In three ways—first by spreading fresh blossoms upon glass thickly smeared vflth pure grease, letting them stand in the sun, and as they wilt replacing them until the grease is as. fragrant as the flowers; second, by repeatedly infusing fresh petals in oil; and third, by infusing them in ether, which is then distilled to a dry solid, reports the Pictorial Magazine. As this solid sells for about S3OO an ounce, it is easy to understand why the ether process, though far away the best, Is not commonly used. But the scented grease and the essences made by steeping It in pure spirit are never cheap. After all the scent possible has been extracted from the grease it Is still fragrant enough to make the very finest perfumed soap. All the citrine scents, bergamot, nerol, orange flower water, are refreshing and in a degree stimulating If properly prepared. To make a lasting perfume some animal base la essential —musk, civet or ambergris.