Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/300

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290 PERFUME PERGAMUS quires a very strong odor. To saturate oil in the same way, the boxes have a wire bottom upon which cotton cloths soaked in the oil are laid, and the boxes or frames are piled upon each other to keep them close. When a num- ber of cloths are charged with the perfume, they are subjected to the action of a press for recovering the oil. Spirits are scented by ma- ceration or by digesting them with essential oils in a water bath and agitating them at times for several days. The eau de mille fleurs is prepared on this plan in Paris with the follow- ing ingredients and proportions : alcohol, 9 litres; orange flower water, 4 litres; balsam of Peru, 60 grammes; essence of bergamot, 120 grammes ; essence of cloves, 60 grammes ; es- sence of neroli, 15 grammes ; essence of thyme, 15 grammes ; essence of musk, 120 grammes. The last named essence is prepared by digest- ing in the heat of the sun for two months 15 grammes of civet and 75 grammes of musk in 2 litres of alcohol perfumed with ambergris. Scented vinegar is prepared in a similar way, vinegar being substituted for alcohol. Anoth- er method was discovered and introduced by M. Millon, a French chemist. He found that the aromatic principle of vegetable matters might be' extracted together with some fatty or waxy matters by treating them with puri- fied ether or sulphuret of carbon ; and that by evaporating the volatile solvent at a tempera- ture below that of the surrounding atmosphere, the perfume is retained and fixed in the resi- duum without undergoing any change. The substance deposited by the treatment of dif- ferent plants is variously colored ; it is some- times solid, or oily or semi-fluid, becoming solid after some time. The solvent may be collected as it condenses in the distillation, and the same may be used several times over ; but it should always be for the same flower, and with the same apparatus. The choicest parts of the plants or flowers are used exclusively, by which mode much more delicate results are attained than by the ordinary mode of distil- lation. A remarkable peculiarity of the per- fumes thus prepared is that they may be kept open to the air without being dissipated and lost. They may be separated from the waxy matter by alcohol, which dissolves them to- gether with a little of the oily and coloring matters ; and in this state they may be con- veniently mixed with fats and oils. Pastilles are articles of perfumery made when set on fire to consume slowly and give out the odor with which they are charged. They are com- posed of charcoal finely pulverized, saltpetre, and the odoriferous substances, chiefly gum resins, the whole moulded into little cones, which are made to adhere together by the ad- dition of mucilage. The pastilles du serail consist of 24 grammes of olibanum, 24 of sto- rax, 16 of nitre, and 124 of pulverized char- coal. For rose pastilles there are added to the above 32 grammes of rose leaves and 2 of es- sence of rose ; for orange flower pastilles, 24 grammes of galbanum, 32 of dried pulverized orange peel, and 2 of essence of neroli ; for vanilla, 24 grammes of galbanum, 16 of cloves, 32 of vanilla, 1 of essence of cloves, and 16 of essence of vanilla. Odoriferous spirits for burning are prepared in a similar way, the vanilla being generally replaced by gum ben- zoin. The powdered almond paste used in perfumery is prepared from the residue of the bruised kernels of apricots or almonds, sweet or bitter, after the oil is pressed out. This is ground and sifted. The paste is variously pre- pared from the powder. One process is to mix together 250 grammes each of the pow- der and of honey, with 500 grammes of the oil of bitter almonds and the yolks of four eggs. Perfumed soaps are prepared by sub- stituting pomade for the grease in mixture with soda lees. See Mme. Oelnart, Nouveau manuel complet du parfumeur (Paris, 1845 ; translated into English by C. Morfit, Philadel- phia, 1847); Septimus Piesse, "The Art of Perfumery and the Methods of obtaining the Odors of Plants" (London, 1855); Dr. A. B. Lunel, Guide pratique du parfumeur: Dic- tionnaire des cosmetiques et parfums (Paris, 1864); Pradal and Malpeyne, "A Complete Treatise on Perfumery," translated by H. Dus- sauce (Philadelphia, 1864) ; and Eugene Rim- mel, "The Book of Perfumes " (London, 1865). PERGAMUS, or Pergamum. I. The name of the citadel of Troy, frequently used by poets for that city itself. II. An ancient city of Asia Minor, in the Mysian district of Teuthrania, and capital of a kingdom of the same name. It was in the delightful valley of the Caicus, at the foot of two hills near the N". bank of that river, and at its confluence with the Ce- tius and Selinus, the latter of which flowed through the city. Pergamus was founded by a colony of Arcadians, or, according to other traditions, by Epidaurians under ^Esculapius, who was the patron of the place. Its name is derived by some from that of Pergamus, the son of Pyrrhus and Andromache, who is said to have slain aTeuthranian king in single com- bat and taken possession of his territory. Af- ter belonging successively to the Persians, the empire of Alexander the Great, and the Thra- cian kingdom of Lysimachus, it fell into the hands of Seleucus I. of Syria. On his death (280 B. 0.) it became independent under Phile- ta3rus, and extended its power and territory. Attalus I. (241-197) assumed the royal title, and through the friendly relations which he and his successor Eumenes II. (197-159) en- tertained with Rome, the territory was in- creased by that of the rest of Mysia, Lydia, Phrygia, and other neighboring provinces. Per- gamus now became one of the most splendid cities of Asia, rivalling by its library, a re- nowned school of literature, and the invention of parchment, the principal glories of the cap- ital of the Ptolemies. Attalus III. (138-133) ruled like a madman, and finally bequeathed his whole kingdom to the Romans, who erect-