BOOK XIII.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF EXOTIC TREES, AND AN ACCOUNT OF UNGUENTS.
CHAP. 1. (1.)—UNGUENTS—AT WHAT PERIOD THEY WERE FIRST INTRODUCED.
Thus far we have been speaking of the trees which are valuable for the odours they produce, and each of which is a subject for our wonder in itself. Luxury, however, has thought fit to mingle all of these, and to make a single odour of the whole; hence it is that unguents have been invented.[673] Who was the first to make unguents is a fact not recorded. In the times of the Trojan war[674] they did not exist, nor did they use incense when sacrificing to the gods; indeed, people knew of no other smell, or rather stench,[675] I may say, than that of the cedar and the citrus,[676] shrubs of their own growth, as it arose in volumes of smoke from the sacrifices; still, however, even then, the extract of roses was known, for we find it mentioned as conferring additional value on olive-oil.
We ought, by good rights, to ascribe the first use of unguents to the Persians, for they quite soak themselves in it, and so, by an adventitious recommendation, counteract the bad odours which are produced by dirt. The first instance of the use of unguents that I have been able to meet with is that of the chest[677] of perfumes which fell into the hands of Alexander, with the rest of the property of King Darius, at the taking of his camp.[678] Since those times this luxury has been adopted by our own countrymen as well, among the most prized and, indeed, the most elegant of all the enjoyments of life, and has begun even to be admitted in the list of honours paid to the dead; for which reason we shall have to enlarge further on that subject. Those perfumes which are not the produce of shrubs[679] will only be mentioned for the present by name: the nature of them will, however, be stated in their appropriate places.
CHAP. 2.—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF UNGUENTS—TWELVE PRINCIPAL COMPOSITIONS.
The names of unguents are due, some of them, to the original place of their composition, others, again, to the extracts which form their bases, others to the trees from which they are derived, and others to the peculiar circumstance under which they were first made: and it is as well, first of all, to know that in this respect the fashion has often changed, and that the high repute of peculiar kinds has been but transitory. In ancient times, the perfumes the most esteemed of all were those of the island of Delos,[680] and at a later period those of Mendes.[681] This degree of esteem is founded, not only on the mode of mixing them and the relative proportions, but according to the degree of favour or disfavour in which the various places which produce the ingredients are held, and the comparative excellence or degeneracy of the ingredients themselves. The perfume of iris,[682] from Corinth, was long held in the highest esteem, till that of Cyzicus came into fashion. It was the same, too, with the perfume of roses,[683] from Phaselis,[684] the repute of which was afterwards eclipsed by those of Neapolis, Capua, and Præneste. Oil of saffron,[685] from Soli in Cilicia, was for a long time held in repute beyond any other, and then that from Rhodes; after which perfume of œnanthe,[686] from Cyprus, came into fashion, and then that of Egypt was preferred. At a later period that of Adramytteum came into vogue, and then was supplanted by unguent of marjoram,[687] from Cos, which in its turn was superseded by quince blossom[688] unguent from the same place. As to perfume of cyprus,[689] that from the island of Cyprus was at first preferred, and then that of Egypt; when all on a sudden the unguents of Mendes and metopium[690] rose into esteem. In later times Phœnicia eclipsed Egypt in the manufacture of these last two, but left to that country the repute of producing the best unguent of cyprus.
Athens has perseveringly maintained the repute of her panathenaicon.[691] There was formerly a famous unguent, known as “pardalium,”[692] and made at Tarsus; at the present day its very composition and the mode of mixing it are quite unknown there: they have left off, too, making unguent of narcissus[693] from the flowers of that plant.
There are two elements which enter into the composition of unguents, the juices and the solid parts. The former generally consist of various kinds of oils, the latter of odoriferous substances. These last are known as hedysmata, while the oils are called stymmata.[694] There is a third element, which occupies a place between the two, but has been much neglected, the colouring matter, namely. To produce a colour, however, cinnabar[695] and alkanet[696] are often employed. If salt[697] is sprinkled in the oil, it will aid it in retaining its properties; but if alkanet has been employed, salt is never used. Resin and gum are added to fix the odour in the solid perfumes; indeed it is apt to die away and disappear with the greatest rapidity if these substances are not employed.
The unguent which is the most readily prepared of all, and indeed, in all probability, the very first that was ever made, is that composed of bryon[698] and oil of balanus,[699] substances of which we have made mention already. In later times the Mendesian unguent was invented, a more complicated mixture, as resin and myrrh were added to oil of balanus, and at the present day they even add metopion[700] as well, an Egyptian oil extracted from bitter almonds; to which have been added omphacium,[701] cardamum,[702] sweet rush,[703] honey,[704] wine, myrrh, seed of balsamum,[705] galbanum,[706] and resin of terebinth,[707] as so many ingredients. Among the most common unguents at the present day, and for that reason supposed to be the most ancient, is that composed of oil of myrtle,[708] calamus, cypress,[709] cyprus, mastich,[710] and pomegranate-rind.[711] I am of opinion, however, that the unguents which have been the most universally adopted, are those which are compounded of the rose, a flower that grows everywhere; and hence for a long time the composition of oil of roses was of the most simple nature, though more recently there have been added omphacium, rose blossoms, cinnabar, calamus, honey, sweet-rush, flour of salt or else alkanet,[712] and wine. The same is the case, too, with oil of saffron, to which have been lately added cinnabar, alkanet, and wine; and with oil of sampsuchum,[713] with which omphacium and calamus have been compounded. The best comes from Cyprus and Mitylene, where sampsuchum abounds in large quantities.