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

14 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS there are some half a dozen cultivated varieties, with white, red or purple flowers, the foliage exhibiting a pleasant balsamic-citrus redolence, while Floerkea prosperpinacoides---known as the false mermaid---is a solitary species of a North American genus, having minute white flowers and slightly unpleasant-odoured foliage. Balsamina is a discarded synonym of Impatiens, giving name to the sub-order of the Balsams. These are of East Indian origin, now naturalised in Europe and North America, and are tender herbs, the succulent stems of which are laden with a bland aromatic watery juice. The generic name Impatiens refers to the characteristic already noted among the crane's-bills, namely, the elasticity of the valves of the seed pods, which discharge their contents to a considerable distance when ripe or touched. I. noli-m•-tangere (touch me not) is the only English species which is indigenous to Europe, but they are very numerous in India, some 125 species having been recorded. The wild balsam is almost a rarity in the English countryside, but is an elegant plant some two feet high bearing large flowers of a delicate yellow hue beautifully spotted with orange, while the somewhat larger plants in North America are known as "j ewel-weeds," and from the proclivity men- tioned are listed in the wild flower books of that country as "snap-weeds." The garden manuals list some thirty varieties of hardy and half-hardy annuals and generally feature the double camellia-flowered balsams of the nurseries, but these plants--with their fine spikes of waxy-textured blossoms which may be pink, rose, scarlet, violet, yellow or white---do not, so far as I can ascertain, possess foliage with any pronounced aromatic proclivity. It is therefore to some of the tropical varieties, such as I. cornuta, the red- flowered horned balsam of Ceylon and I. sultani, the scarlet-blossomed Zanzibar balsam-shrub, to which attention may be directed. It is first, however, opportune to take a brief glance at the generic name, as this reveals several hints which aid our understanding of the aromatic- citrous nuance found within the Geraniaceae. Although the Anglican word is obvious in the Latin (balsamum) and the Greek (balsamon), yet the root is to be found in the Hebrew (bosere), which would appear to have from its meaning as the "chief of oils" a rather special significance. Conversely, when the odour balance of this complex is reversed and the emphasis is upon the citrous side, the redolence is then a particularly apt description of "balm," a word which is derived from the Aramaic--bolsminmmeaning a sweet, leafy scent. This folial fragrance is perhaps best typified by the herbaceous perennial common to the Mediterranean, namely, Melissa oy•½inalis (N.O. Labiata•), the lemon-balm, or sweet honey-plant, deriving its name from .the fondness of bees (Greek: mdissa •- a bee) for its flowers. This plant, as well as the Moldavian balm and the variety known as "balm of Gilead" are particularly