12 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS with its high citral content, is a further example of the lemon-citronella scent found associated with gerarfiol and/or its esters. Among •the myrtles (N.O. Myrtaceae) are found the eugenol-containing clove and pimenta trees, the oils of which have a high content of this phenol alcohol. It is, however, from the small white flowers and the foliage of Myrtus communis, the well-known evergreen shrub in its natural habitat, that, in my opinion, the component balance of eugenol and geraniol is so adjusted by Nature as to engender an initial spicy-rose scent, which is supported and sustained by the presence of myrtenol, nerol, cineol and cinnamic aldehyde--a grouping which may thus be selected as a prototype bouquet which may be conveniently described as the Myrtle Bloom Fragrance. With some modifications, this nuance is found extensively in other genera of this N.O., for instance, among the widely spread Australian melaleucas, the well-known "bottle-brushes" of which Callistemon salignus, the white or willow bottle-brush, is a typical example. The same spicy-rose motif is also characteristic of several members of the N.O. Calycanthaceae, for example, Calycanthus Floridus, the Carolina allspice-tree and Chimonanthus fragrans, the Japanese variety, while similar sweet odours which perfume the air for a considerable distance around are the proclivity of Elaeagnus hortensis and other varieties of this "wild olive" family, which, like the myrtles, are prolific in their tiny white flowers from which such a continuous volume of powerful fragrance is disseminated. THE U•igUITOUS GERANIOL The above examples are representative of the presence of geraniol in sufficient proportion in the several fragrance-patterns to exercise a modifying effect upon the other osmophores present and thus engender a natural bouquet, and it is therefore instructive to learn, upon referring to the conveniently arranged lists now available in the several "Aromatic Codices" that, progressing through the alphabet from acacia to zdravets, the incidence of geraniol in flower absolutes and essential oils extends to some fifty itemsq a magnitude which is shared only with linalol. Moreover, it is remarked in the literature, albeit somewhat laconically, that gerani01 is extensively used as a base for many types of floral compounds, but it may not perhaps be realised until an audit is made from a comprehensive range of contemporary type-formulae (such as is to be found in Jellinek's Practice of Modern Per- . fumery) that the incidence of geraniol and/or geranium is seen in more than half of the examples. Because of the normal association of scent with the beauty, colour and shape of flowers, regarding which the premier position is usually accorded to the rose, we have ample evidence of the usage made by the earlier Eastern civilisations of rose-water and rose-perfumed oils and unguents, while the

THE GERANIUM FAMILY IN PERFUMERY 13 popularity of this beautiful primal fragrance is still being maintained, judging by the frequency of its choice for perfuming creams, brilliantines, lipsticks, face and talcum powders and other toilet and cosmetic specialities which depend for their fragrance upon economical, powerful and persistent compounds based upon geraniol. It may therefore be regarded as a fortuitous proclivity of geraniol that it possesses an osmophore which is already so close to the nuance of the rose ottos that, given a little support from/-citronellol and phenylethyl alcohol, the basic outline of the rose otto fragrance-pattern is comparatively easily approached. The final touches towards achieving an ideal simulation which is ,esthetically satisfying must, of course, depend entirely upon the per- fumer's inspiration and his skill in selecting and deciding upon the propor- tional balance from a very brief but carefully chosen list of natural and synthetic aromatics--according to the type of rose bouquet he wishes to emulate. T•E GENUS ERODtUM There are about a dozen wild Erodiums indigenous to Europe, bearing mostly lilac or purple flowers. Probably the most common is E. cicutarium, known in this country as the hemlock stork's-bill, but in North America it is variously termed common heron's-bill, pin-clover, pin-grass or Californian wild musk. E. moschatum is the musky stork's-bill, Muscovy or ground needle. Both these plants possess foliage somewhat clammy to the touch (cf. Cistaceae) and on further handling emit a strong scent which is described in the garden books as "musky." Here I think we have evidence of a similar balsamic-labdanum nuance which has already been noted with some of the Pelargoniums, rather than any suggestion of the vegetable "musky" odour characterised by the musk mallows. The garden manuals list some forty varieties of annual and biennial Erodiums having mostly blue or purple flowers with at least some suggestion in the foliage of an aromatic redolence, but this appears to be more marked in some of the naturalised tropical species, for example, E. malapoides and E. Reichardi, which have a very sweet resinous-balsamic odour. SOME LESSER-KNOWN PLANTS ALLIED TO GERANIUM Some members of the Geranium family on their own terrain have gradu- ally adapted themselves to the peculiarly dry conditions of the Karroo--the high pastoral tableland of South Africa. One unique specimen known as kaarsbossie or the candle-bush (Sarcocaulon (Burmanil) Patersonii) is a small spiny shrub bearing white flowers and remarkable for the fact that the succnlent branches, even when quite fresh and green, contain so much oil that they will burn like a torch. This genus is allied to the Monsonia, of which