122 AURANTIACEJE. 



pear ; he adds that it is got by squeezing small bits of the peel 

 with the fingers in a bottle or globe large enough to allow the 

 hand to enter. 



Volkamer of Nuremberg, who produced a fine work on the Citron 

 tribe in 1708, has a chapter on the Limon Bergamotta, which he 

 describes as gloria limonum et fmctus inter onines nobilissvnius. He 

 states that the Italians prepare from it the finest essences, which are 

 sold at a high price/ 



But, as shown by one of us,^ the essential oil of bergamot had 

 already, in 1688, a place among the stores of an apothecary of the 

 German town of Giessen. 



The name Bergamotta was originally applied to a large kind of 

 pear, called in Turkish " beg-armudi," i.e. prince's pear.^ 



Production — The bergamot is cultivated at Reggio, on low ground 

 near the sea, and in the adjacent villages. The trees are often inter- 

 mixed with lemon and orange trees, and the soil is well irrigated and 

 cropped with vegetables. 



The essential oil (Olemn Bergamottai) is obtained from the full- 

 grown but still unripe and more or less green fruits, gathered in the 

 months of November and December. They are richer in oil than any 

 one of the allied fruits. It was formerly made like that of lemon by 

 the sponge-process, but during the last 20 years this method has been 

 generally superseded by the introduction of a special machine for the 

 extraction of the essential oil. In this machine the fruits are placed in 

 a strong, saucer-like, metallic dish, about 10 inches in diameter, having 

 in the centre a raised opening which with the outer edge forms a 

 broad groove or channel ; the dish is fitted with a cover of similar 

 form. The inner surface both of the dish and cover is rendered rough 

 by a series of narrow, radiating metal ridges of blades which are 

 about ^ of an inch high and resemble the backs of knifes. The dish is 

 also furnished with some small openings to allow of the outflow of 

 essential oil ; and both dish and cover are arranged in a metallic cylin- 

 der, placed over a vessel to receive the oil. By a simple arrangement 

 of cog-wheels moved by a handle, the cover, which is very heavy, is 

 made to revolve rapidly over the dish, and the fruit lying in the groove 

 between the two is carried round, and at the same time is subjected to 

 the action of the sharp ridges, which, rupturing the oil-vessels, cause 

 the essence to escape, and set it free to flow out by the small openings 

 in the bottom of the dish. The fruits are placed in the machine, 6, 8, 

 or more at a time, according to their size, and subjected to the rotatory 

 action above described for about half a minute, when the machine is 

 stopped, they are removed, and fresh ones substituted. About 7,000 

 fruits can thus be worked in one of these machines in a day. The 

 yield of oil is said to be similar to that of lemon, namely 2^ to 3 ounces 

 from 100 fruits. 



Essence of bergamot made by the machine is of a greener tint than 

 that obtained by the old sponge-process. During some weeks after 



^ Hesperides Norimbergenses, 1713. lih. 3. * Information, for which I am indebted 



cap. 26. and p. 156 b. (We quote from to Dr. Eice. — The name has no reference 



the Latin edition. ) to the town of Bergamo, where bergamots 



^ Fliickiger, Documente zur Geschichte der cannot succeed. — F. A . F. 

 Fharmack, Halle, 1876. 72. 



