Kirjahaku

It is now fifteen years since the last edition of this reference volume appeared and during this time new materials have appeared and some have fallen into disuse. The present edition is the result of much revision and some deletion and an effort has been made to bring the information up-to-date and in conformity with current practice. Of recent years several speciality materials have appeared, and a number of these are included where their chemical composition is known. Speciality materials of vague composition are not included. For many of the compounds listed several alternative names are in use, some of which from the chemist's point of view are either inadequate, ambiguous, or occasionally actually misleading. In this edition the compounds have been listed under names which are considered to be chemically satisfactory and which, at the same time, should be reasonably familiar to perfumers; they do not necessarily contain full information as to the structure of the com­ pound and they make free use of widely accepted trivial names. In most of the entries this is followed by a systematic name which defines the chemical structure, while synonyms which are in use, though sometimes chemically unsatisfactory, are given in brackets, with a cross-reference to the main entry. Prefixes denoting structural features, such as n-, iso-, cis-, trans-, 0-, m-, p-, and so on are disregarded in the alphabetical listing.

During the past decade there have been many changes in the perfumery industry which are not so much due to the discovery and application of new raw materials, but rather to the astronomic increase in the cost of labour required to produce them. This is reflected more particularly in the flower industry, where the cost of collecting the blossoms delivered to the factories has gone up year after year, so much so that most flowers with the possible exception of Mimosa, have reached a cost price which has compelled the perfumer to either reduce his purchases of absolutes and concretes, or alternatively to substitute them from a cheaper source, or even to discontinue their use. This development raises an important and almost insoluble problem for the perfumer, who is faced with the necessity of trying to keep unchanged the bouquet of his fragrances, and moreover, to ensure no loss of strength and diffusiveness. Of course, this problem applies more especially to the adjustment of formulae for established perfumes, because in every new creation the present high cost of raw materials receives imperative con­ sideration before the formula is approved.