OCCASIONAL RECOURSE to a diction- ary is a useful process, for thereby ß i{'i!i" an idea is often engendered which, •:7'• by association, can be suitably -', expanded. For instance, on turning ß :•:i:to "perfume," one is reminded that :ii':. the noun defines a substance which emits a sweet odour, an agreeable scent or fragrance' while the. verb : :Suggests an ability to fill or impreg- nate with a grateful odour--grateful in the sense of affording pleasure-- and, regarding "scent," this agrees "' with fragrant, as diffusing an agree~ able perfume or sweet smell. Such an observation may, of course, be somewhat commonplace, •.. but the point I wish to make is the emphasis upon sweetness and the •': absence of any floral connotation. My choice of the title of this paper has been prompted partly as a complement to my previous remarks upon "Non-Floral Perfumes" which appeared in the November 1952 issue of this journal, and also to afford me an opportunity of record- ing some observations on the natural flower odours, in contradistinction to what may perhaps be termed the modern "Complex Floral Perfumes." However, before developing a * Chief Chemist, Messrs. A. G. Hersom, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. SIMPLE FLORAL PERFUMES By E. S. MAURER, F.C.S., M.R.I.* theme upon the elementary florals, I think it opportune to review quite briefly the background of the litera- ture, rather than to append a mere sequence of references. I have, therefore, taken as a source-book Edward Sagarin's "Science and Art of Perfumery," because its Appendix "A" constitutes a very concise bibliography. In the 130 or so books quoted in this reference it is noted that most of them are devoted to the technical study of the production, chemistry, constituents and analytical data concerning the essential oils while a smaller selection is composed of the various recipe-books dealing . with the manufacture of perfumes, toilet waters and cosmetics, I find, however, that among this collection there are apparently only three important volumes which treat in any detailed fashion with the theory and pra•:tice of composing a per- fume, namely, Winter's "Riechstoffe und Parf•imierungstechnik" (Vienna, 1933', Wagner's "Die Parf(imie- industrie (Halle, 1928), and the "Formulaire du Chimiste-parfumeur et du savonnier" of R. M. Gattefoss• (Paris, 1932). These texts, in turn, are chiefly of interest to the advanced practitioner and obviously cover 179