denotes either the volatile effluvia from any body affecting the organ of smelling, or the substance emitting those effluvia; in which last sense the word is most commonly used. The generality of perfumes are made up of musk, ambergris, civet, rose and cedar woods, orange-flowers, jasmines, jonquils, tuberoses, and other odoriferous flowers. Those drugs commonly called aromatics, such as storax, frankincense, benzoin, cloves, mace, &c. enter the composition of a perfume; some are also composed of aromatic herbs or leaves, as lavender, marjoram, fage, thyme, hyssop, &c.

Perfumes were anciently very much in use; but, since people are become sensible of the harm they do to the head, they are generally diluted among us; however, they are still common in Spain and Italy.