54 CITRUS LIMONUM 



placed upright upon a shallow basin of pewter, with the central 

 portion prolonged downwards into a tube closed at its lower 

 end. This vessel is called an ecuelle a piquer. 



The process by expression as now followed in Sicily and 

 Calabria has been thus described by the authors of Pharmaco- 

 graphia : " The lemons are used while still rather green and unripe, 

 as being richer in oil than when quite mature. Only the small 

 and irregular fruit, such as is not worth exporting, is employed 

 for affording the essence. The workman first cuts off the peel in 

 three thick longitudinal slices, leaving the central pulp of a three- 

 cornered shape with a little peel at either end. This central 

 pulp he cuts transversely in the middle, throwing it on one side 

 and the pieces of peel on the other. The latter are allowed to 

 remain till the next day and are then treated thus : the workman 

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

 sponge, wrapping it round his forefinger. With the other he places 

 on the sponge one of the slices of peel, the outer surface down- 

 wards, and then presses the zest-side (which is uppermost) so as 

 to give it for the moment a convex instead of a concave form. 

 The vesicles are thus ruptured, and the oil which issues from them 

 is received in the sponge with which they are in contact. Four or 

 five squeezes are all the workman gives to each slice of peel, which 

 done he throws it aside. Though each bit of peel has attached 

 to it a small portion of pulp, the workman continues to avoid 

 pressing the latter. As the sponge gets saturated the workman 

 wrings it forcibly, receiving its contents in a coarse earthen bowl 

 provided with a spout ; in this rude vessel, which is capable of 

 holding at least three pints, the oil separates from the watery 

 liquid which accompanies it, and is then decanted. The yield is 

 stated to be vary variable, 400 pints affording 9 to 14 ounces of 

 essence. The prisms of pulp and the exhausted pieces of peel 

 are submitted to pressure in order to extract from them lemon 

 juice, and are said to be also subjected to distillation. The fore- 

 going is termed the sponge process; it is also applied to the 

 orange. It appears rude and wasteful, but when honestly per- 

 formed it yields an excellent product." 



