Extract of Vanilla.
| Vanilla pods, | 1/2 lb. |
| Rectified spirit, | 1 gallon. |
Slit the pods from end to end, so as to lay open the interior, then cut them up in lengths of about a quarter of an inch, macerate with occasional agitation for about a month; the tincture thus formed will only require straining through cotton to be ready for any use that is required. In this state it is rarely sold for a perfume, but is consumed in the manufacture of compound odors, bouquets, or nosegays, as they are called.
Extract of Vanilla is also used largely in the manufacture of hair-washes, which are readily made by mixing the extract of vanilla with either rose, orange, elder, or rosemary water, and afterwards filtering.
We need scarcely mention, that vanilla is greatly used by cooks and confectioners for flavoring.
Verbena, or Vervaine.—The scented species of this plant, the lemon verbena, Aloysia citriodora (Hooker), gives one of the finest perfumes with which we are acquainted; it is well known as yielding a delightful fragrance by merely drawing the hand over the plant; some of the little vessels or sacks containing the otto must be crushed in this act, as there is little or no odor by merely smelling at the plant.
The otto, which can be extracted from the leaves by distillation with water, on account of its high price, is scarcely, if ever, used by the manufacturing perfumer, but it is most successfully imitated by mixing the otto of lemon grass, Andropogon schœnanthus, with rectified spirit, the odor of which resembles the former to a nicety. The following is a good form for making the
Extract of Verbena.
| Rectified spirit, | 1 pint. |
| Otto of lemon grass, | 3 drachms. |
| " lemon peel, | 2 oz. |
| " orange peel, | 1/2 oz. |
After standing together for a few hours and then filtering, it is fit for sale.