96 FRUITS 



oil (essence) of lemon, but the following appears to be largely adopted 

 in Sicily, whence most of the oil is exported : 



The lemons are first cut lengthwise into three or four pieces, the 

 pulp removed and pressed, and the peel set aside in a cool place for 

 some hours. The workman holds in his left hand a medium-sized 

 sponge, smaller ones being placed between the fingers. With the 

 right hand he takes a piece of peel and squeezes it in such a way as to 

 break the oil-glands and discharge their contents on the sponges. 

 When sufficient has accumulated the sponges are pressed ; the liquid 

 thus obtained separates on standing into a lower watery stratum and 

 an upper clear oily layer which can be poured off. The oil thus ob- 

 tained is filtered and exported in coppers of varying sizes. This 

 hand-pressed peel is then pickled in brine and sold to the manufacturers 

 of candied lemon peel. This method of separating the volatile oil 

 from the peel is termed the ' sponge ' process ; 1 ,000 lemons yield 

 about 800 gm. of volatile oil. That which is obtained during the 

 winter from lemons that are not fully ripe is considered the best. 



In the south of France a different procedure is adopted, of which 

 the following description has been given : ' The object being to set 

 free and to collect the oil contained in the vesicles of the peel, an 

 apparatus is employed which may be thus described : a stout saucer 

 or shallow basin of pewter, about 25 cm. in diameter, with a lip on one 

 side for convenience of pouring ; fixed in the bottom of this saucer 

 are a number of stout, sharp, brass pins standing up about half an 

 inch ; the centre of the bottom is deepened into a tube about an inch 

 in diameter and five inches in length, closed at its lower end. This 

 vessel, whicfris called an ecuelle a piquer, has therefore some resemblance 

 to a shallow, dish-shaped funnel, the tube of which is closed below. 



* The workman takes a lemon in the hand and rubs it over the sharp 

 pins, turning it round so that the oil- vessels of the entire surface may 

 be punctured. The essential oil which is thus liberated is received in 

 the saucer, whence it flows down into the tube ; and as this latter 

 becomes filled it is poured into another vessel that it may separate 

 from the turbid aqueous liquid that accompanies it. It is finally 

 filtered, and is then known as Essence de Citron au Zeste, ' (Fliickiger 

 and Hanbury). 



A machine (scorzetta), constructed on a similar principle, has been 

 devised by which the scarification of the lemons is much more rapidly 

 effected than is possible by the tedious hand process, and by which at 

 the same time an increased yield of oil is obtained ; it has not, how- 

 ever, as yet been generally adopted. 



Oil of lemon is also prepared by distilling the peel with water, but 

 this distilled essence is inferior in fragrance to that prepared by either 

 of the foregoing processes. 



Oil of lemon is a pale yellow liquid of sp. gr. 0-857 to 0-860 and optical rotation 

 -f- 58 to + 64, consisting of about 90 per cent, of the terpene limonene and 



