The Art of Perfumery | Page 9

rectified
spirit of wine, it forms what may be termed extract of allspice, which
extract will be found very useful in the manufacture of low-priced
bouquets.
ALMONDS.

"Mark well the flow'ring almonds in the wood; If od'rous blooms the
bearing branches load, The glebe will answer to the sylvan reign, Great
heats will follow, and large crops of grain."
VIRGIL.
This perfume has been much esteemed for many ages. It may be
procured by distilling the leaves of any of the laurel tribe, and the
kernels of stone fruit; for trade purposes, it is obtained from the bitter
almonds, and exists in the skin or pellicle that covers the seed after it is
shelled. In the ordinary way, the almonds are put into the press for the
purpose of obtaining the mild or fat oil from the nut; the cake which is
left after this process is then mixed with salt and water, and allowed to
remain together for about twenty-four hours prior to distillation. The
reason for moistening the cake is well understood to the practical
chemist, and although we are not treating the subject of perfumery in a
chemical sense, but only in a practical way, it may not be inappropriate
here to observe, that the essential oil of almonds does not exist ready
formed to any extent in the nut, but that it is produced by a species of
fermentation, from the amygdalin and emulsine contained in the
almonds, together with the water that is added. Analogous substances
exist in laurel leaves, and hence the same course is to be pursued when
they are distilled. Some manufacturers put the moistened cake into a
bag of coarse cloth, or spread it upon a sieve, and then force the stream
through it; in either case, the essential oil of the almond rises with the
watery vapor, and is condensed in the still-worm. In this concentrated
form, the odor of almonds is far from agreeable; but when diluted with
spirit, in the proportion of about one and a half ounce of the oil to a
gallon of spirit or alcohol, it is very pleasant.
[Illustration: Almond.]
The essential oil of almonds, enters into combination with soap, cold
cream, and many other materials prepared by the perfumer; for which
see their respective titles.
Fourteen pounds of the cake yield about one ounce of essential oil.

In experiments with this substance, it must be carefully remembered
that it is exceedingly poisonous, and, therefore, great caution is
necessary in its admixture with substances used as a cosmetic,
otherwise dangerous results may ensue.
_Artificial Otto of Almonds._--Five or six years ago, Mr. Mansfield, of
Weybridge, took out a patent for the manufacture of otto of almonds
from benzole. (Benzole is obtained from tar oil.) His apparatus,
according to the Report of the juries of the 1851 Exhibition, consists of
a large glass tube in the form of a coil, which at the upper end divides
into two tubes; each of which is provided with a funnel. A stream of
nitric acid flows slowly into one of the funnels, and benzole into the
other. The two substances meet at the point of union of the tubes, and a
combination ensues with the evolution of heat. As the newly formed
compound flows down through the coil it becomes cool, and is
collected at the lower extremity; it then requires to be washed with
water, and lastly with a dilute solution of carbonate of soda, to render it
fit for use. Nitro-benzole, which is the chemical name for this artificial
otto of almonds, has a different odor to the true otto of almonds, but it
can nevertheless be used for perfuming soap. Mr. Mansfield writes to
me under date of January 3d, 1855:--"In 1851, Messrs. Gosnell, of
Three King Court, began to make this perfume under my license;
latterly I withdrew the license from them by their consent, and since
then it is not made that I am aware of." It is, however, quite common in
Paris.
ANISE.--The odorous principle is procured by distilling the seeds of
the plant _Pimpinella anisum_; the product is the oil of aniseed of
commerce. As it congeals at a temperature of about 50° Fahr., it is
frequently adulterated with a little spermaceti, to give a certain solidity
to it, whereby other cheaper essential oils can be added to it with less
chance of detection. As the oil of aniseed is quite soluble in spirit, and
the spermaceti insoluble, the fraud is easily detected.
This perfume is exceedingly strong, and is, therefore, well adapted for
mixing with soap and for scenting pomatums, but does not do nicely in
compounds for handkerchief use.

BALM, oil of Balm, called also oil of Melissa, is obtained by distilling
the leaves of the Melissa officinalis with water; it comes