CITRONELLA.--Under this name there is an oil in the market,
chiefly derived from Ceylon and the East Indies; its true origin we are
unable to decide; in odor it somewhat resembles citron fruit, but is
very inferior. Probably it is procured from one of the grasses of the
_Andropogon_ genus. Being cheap, it is extensively used for perfuming
soap. What is now extensively sold as "honey" soap, is a fine yellow
soap slightly perfumed with this oil. Some few use it for scenting
grease, but it is not much admired in that way.

CLOVES.--Every part of the clove plant (_Caryophyllus
aromaticus_) abounds with aromatic oil, but it is most fragrant and
plentiful in the unexpanded flower-bud, which are the cloves of
commerce. Cloves have been brought into the European market for more
than 2000 years. The plant is a native of the Moluccas and other islands
in the China seas. "The average annual crop of cloves," says Burnett,
"is, from each tree, 2 or 2-1/2 lbs., but a fine tree has been known to
yield 125 lbs. of this spice in a single season, and as 5000 cloves only
weigh one pound, there must have been at least 625,000 flowers upon this
single tree."

[Illustration: Clove.]

The oil of cloves may be obtained by expression from the fresh
flower-buds, but the usual method of procuring it is by distillation,
which is carried on to a very great extent in this country. Few
essential oils have a more extensive use in perfumery than that of
cloves; it combines well with grease, soap, and spirit, and, as will be
seen in the recipes for the various bouquets given hereafter, it forms a
leading feature in some of the most popular handkerchief essences,
Rondeletia, the Guard's Bouquet, &c., and will be found where least