118 • AURANTIACE^E. 



concentrated lime juice exported in 1874 from Montserrat was £3,890. 

 From Dominica, 11,285 gallons, value £1,825, were shipped in 1875. 



Uses — Lemon peel is used in medicine solely as a •flavouring 

 ingredient. Freshly prepared lemon juice is often administered with 

 an alkaline bicarbonate in the form of an effervescing draught, or in a 

 free state. 



Concentrated lemon juice is imported for the purpose of making 

 citric acid ; it is derived not only from the lemon, but also, to a smaller 

 extent, from the lime and bergamot. Lim,e juice of the West Indies is 

 chiefly used as a beverage ; small quantities of it are also exported for 

 the manufacture of citric acid. The culture of Citrus Limetta Risso, 

 the lime, was introduced in Montserrat in 1852. 



OLEUM LIMONIS. 



Oleum Limonum; Essential Oil or Essence of Lemon; F. Essence d( 



Citron; G. Citronenol. 



Botanical Origin 



iTiion 



History— The chemists of the 16th century were well acquainted 

 with the method of extracting essential oils by distillation. Besson in 

 his work L'art et moyen parfaict de tirer huyles et eaux cle tons medi- 

 caments simples et oleogineux, published at Paris in 1571, mentions 

 lemon- (citron) and orange-peel among the substances subjected to this 

 process. Giovanni Battista Porta,^ a learned Neapolitan writer- 

 describes the method of preparing Oleum ex corticihus Citri to consist 

 m_ removing the peel of the fruit with a rasp and distilling it so com- 

 mmuted with water ; and adds that the oils of lemon and orange ma) 

 be obtained in the same manner. Essence of lemon of two kmo^- 

 namely expressed and distilled, was sold in Paris in the time of Pon^ei, 



Production— Essential oil of lemon is manufactured in Sicily- at 

 Keggio m Calabria, and at Mentone and Nice in France. . 



ihe lemons are used while still rather green and unripe, as ben « 

 richer m oil than when quite mature. Only the small and irreguw 

 trmt, such as is not worth exporting, is employed for affording 

 essence. r t=> i j ^ 



. The process followed in Sicily and Calabria may be thus described; 

 It is pertormed m the months of November and December. _ , 



i he workman first cuts off the peel in three thick longitudinal sui ^, 

 leaving the central pulp of a three-cornered shape with a little pef 

 either end. This central pulp he cuts transversely in the nndd\e,ff' 

 mg It on one side and the pieces of peel on the other. The latter ar 

 allowed to remain till the next day and arc then treated thus:--tn 

 workman seated holds in the palm of his left hand a flattish piece 



■sf Ts? ^'^'"'"™^^ ''^'■' ^=^- Neapoli. (13 May 1872) was not that of th« "^S' 



1589. 188. 



l^Z^ ^r^.-- °^ Signer Mai- "^1 Kng proc\;r"ed a ^^i 



the P^ur?ST '" r^^^l^^si^^. I had set him to work on them m order ^^^ 



made Tholh I'^S \°'" *^« ^^^«»<=e is might have ocular demonstration 



• 1 hough the time of my visit process.~D. H. 



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