The Oriental liking for odoriferous substances has always rendered the function of the perfumer an important one. The materials used in Bible times were gums, resins, roots, barks, leaves; and these were variously combined according to the skill and fancy of the perfumer. In Ne 3:8 we read of a guild of perfumers. 'Perfumers' ought in every instance to be substituted for AV apothecaries as well as for confectionaries of 1Sa 8:13.

Cf. art. Apothecary.