The History of “Perfume Of Grasse”

Extracts for scenting pocket-handkerchiefs are made from freshly gathered flowers laid between two sheets of glass. On each side of the glass is a layer of lard, which, in twelve to twenty-four hours, completely absorbs the odoriferous oil.

When the flowers are abundant, they are renewed every twelve hours, sometimes every six hours. The operation is repeated a different number of times on the same lard with different flowers …

The lard is melted in a large iron vessel and mixed with spirits made from grain, which combining with the volatile oil rises to the top; the fluid is then filtered; this is called the cold method.

Orange and rose petals require the hot methods, either by the still or by the ‘bain-marie.’ The distilling of the fragrant oil from the petals requires most vigilant attention.

Rose and orange pomade are made by the bain-marie method by submerging a large iron pot full of lard in boiling water.

When the lard is melted the petals are added, and after having remained twelve or twenty-four hours the mass is filtered to remove the now inodorous petals.