The Art of Perfumery by George William Septimus Piesse (english readers .TXT) 📕

Place the carmine into a pint bottle, and pour on it the ammonia; allow them to remain together, with occasional agitation, for two days; then add the rose-water and esprit, and well mix. Place the bottle in a quiet situation for a week; any precipitate of impurities from the carmine will subside; the supernatant "Bloom of Roses" is then to be bottled for sale. If the carmine was perfectly pure there would be no precipitate; nearly all the carmine purchased from the makers is more or less sophisticated, its enormous price being a premium to its adulteration.

Carmine cannot be manufactured profitably on a small scale for commercial purposes; four or five manufacturers supply the whole of Europe! M. Titard, Rue Grenier St. Lazare, Paris, produces, without doubt, the finest article; singular enough, however, the principal operative in the establishment is an old Englishman.

"The preparation of the finest carmine is still a mystery, because, on the one hand, its consumption being very limited, few persons are engaged in its manufacture, and, upon the other, the raw material being costly, extensive experiments on it cannot be conveniently made."—Dr. Ure.

In the Encyclopédie Roret will be found no less than a dozen recipes for preparing carmine; the number of formulæ will convince the most superficial reader that the true form is yet withheld.

Analysis has taught us its exact composition; but a certain dexterity of manipulation and proper temperature are indispensable to complete success.

Most of the recipes given by Dr. Ure, and others, are from this source; but as they possess no practical value we refrain from reprinting them.

Are prepared of different shades by mixing fine carmine with talc powder, in different proportions, say, one drachm of carmine to two ounces of talc, or one of carmine to three of talc, and so on. These rouges are sold in powder, and also in cake or china pots; for the latter the rouge is mixed with a minute portion of solution of gum tragacanth. M. Titard prepares a great variety of rouges. In some instances the coloring-matter of the cochineal is spread upon thick paper and dried very gradually; it then assumes a beautiful green tint. This curious optical effect is also observed in "pink saucers." What is known as Chinese book rouge is evidently made in the same way, and has been imported into this country for many years.

When the bronze green cards are moistened with a piece of damp cotton wool, and applied to the lips or cheeks, the color assumes a beautiful rosy hue. Common sorts of rouge, called "theatre rouge," are made from the Brazil-wood lake; another kind is derived from the safflower (Carthamus tinctorius); from this plant also is made

The safflower is washed in water until the yellow coloring-matter is removed; the carthamine or color principle is then dissolved out by a weak solution of carbonate of soda; the coloring is then precipitated into the saucers by the addition of sulphuric acid to the solution.

Cotton wool and crape being colored in the same way are used for the same purpose, the former being sold as Spanish wool, the latter as Crépon rouge.

Tooth powders, regarded as a means merely of cleansing the teeth, are most commonly placed among cosmetics; but this should not be, as they assist greatly in preserving a healthy and regular condition of the dental machinery, and so aid in perfecting as much as possible the act of mastication. In this manner, they may be considered as most useful, although it is true, subordinate medicinal agents. By a careful and prudent use of them, some of the most frequent causes of early loss of the teeth may be prevented; these are, the deposition of tartar, the swelling of the gums, and an undue acidity of the saliva. The effect resulting from accumulation of the tartar is well known to most persons, and it has been distinctly shown that swelling of the substance of the gums will hasten the expulsion of the teeth from their sockets; and the action of the saliva, if unduly acid, is known to be at least injurious, if not destructive. Now, the daily employment of a tooth powder sufficiently hard, so as to exert a tolerable degree of friction upon the teeth, without, at the same time, injuring the enamel of the teeth, will, in most cases, almost always prevent the tartar accumulating in such a degree as to cause subsequent injury to the teeth; and a flaccid, spongy, relaxed condition of the gums may be prevented or overcome by adding to such a tooth powder, some tonic and astringent ingredient. A tooth powder containing charcoal and cinchona bark, will accomplish these results in most cases, and therefore dentists generally recommend such. Still, there are objections to the use of charcoal; it is too hard and resisting, its color is objectionable, and it is perfectly insoluble by the saliva, it is apt to become lodged between the teeth, and there to collect decomposing animal and vegetable matter around such particles as may be fixed in this position. Cinchona bark, too, is often stringy, and has a bitter, disagreeable taste. M. Mialhe highly recommends the following formula:—

Sugar of milk, one thousand parts; lake, ten parts; pure tannin, fifteen parts; oil of mint, oil of aniseed, and oil of orange flowers, so much as to impart an agreeable flavor to the composition.

His directions for the preparation of this tooth powder, are, to rub well the lake with the tannin, and gradually add the sugar of milk, previously