Civet is the secretion of a double gland present both in the male and the female near the sexual organs. Fresh civet is a whitish-yellow mass of the consistence of butter or fat, and becomes thicker and darker on exposure to the air. Similar to musk, it has a strong odor which becomes pleasant on being diluted and is used both alone and for fixing other odors.
In the manufacture of perfumery a considerable number of chemical products find application; in this place, however, we shall describe only those which are used very frequently and generally, and discuss the characteristics of those employed more rarely in connection with the articles of perfumery into which they enter. According to their application we may divide these substances into several groups, namely:
A. Chemicals which, without themselves serving as perfumes, are used exclusively for the extraction of odors.
B. Chemicals which, while not fragrant, are frequently employed in the preparation of perfumes. Under this head we have included also those substances which are not strictly chemical products, but originally come from the animal or vegetable kingdom, such as fats, spermaceti, and wax, yet cannot be used in perfumery unless they have undergone a process of chemical purification.
C. Chemical products used for coloring perfumes, so-called dye-stuffs.
The greater portion of the substances to be here described it will hardly be the province of the perfumer to prepare himself, as they are furnished by chemical factories at low prices; but some of them—for instance, sublimed, natural benzoic acid suitable for perfumery and a few other substances—the perfumer should make himself, in order to be sure of its genuineness. Therefore, while in the former class it will be sufficient to describe their properties to enable the manufacturer to distinguish good quality from bad, the latter class must be discussed at greater length.
A. Chemicals used for the Extraction of Aromatic Substances.
For the extraction of aromatic substances from plants a number of bodies are used which possess great solvent power for essential oils, and are besides very volatile, or have a low boiling-point. These are particularly ether, chloroform, petroleum ether, and bisulphide of carbon.