A French process for obtaining essential oils from flowers or
herbs has been described as follows:--Take carded cotton, or split
wadding and steep it in some pure Florence oil, such as is quite
clear and has no smell. Then place a layer of this cotton in the
bottom of a deep china dish, or in an earthen pipkin. Cover it
with a thick layer of fresh rose leaves, or the leaves of sweet
pink, jasmine, wall-flower, tuberose, magnolia blossoms, or any
other odoriferous flower or plant from which you wish to obtain
the perfume. Spread over the flower-leaves another layer of cotton
that has been steeped in oil. Afterwards a second layer of
flowers, and repeat them alternately till the vessel is quite
full. Cover it closely, and let it stand in the sun for a week.
Then throw away the flower-leaves, carefully press out the oil
from the cotton, and put it into a small bottle for use. The oil
will be found to have imbibed the odour of the flowers.
Keep the scented cotton to perfume your clothes-presses.