PRODUCTS OF THE CITRUS. 247 



leather. I^ecayed fruit is not peeled, as its oil cells, being 

 atrophied, yield no essence. 



"Fresh peel is soaked in water iifteen minutes before the 

 essence is extracted. Peel that has stood a day or two should 

 remain m soak from thirty to forty minutes, that it may swell 

 and offer a greater resistance against the sponge. The opera- 

 tive holds a small sponge in his left hand, against which he 

 presses each piece of peel two or three times — simple pressure 

 followed by rotary pressure. The women employed in this 

 work run a piece of cane through their sponges to enable them 

 to hold them more firmly. The outside of the peel is pressed 

 against the sponge, as the oil glands are in the epicarp. The 

 crushing of the oil cells liberates the essence therein contained. 

 The sponge, when saturated with the essence, is squeezed into 

 an earthenware vessel the operative holds in his lap. He is 

 expected to press the peel so thoroughly as not to overlook a 

 single cell. This is ascertained l)y holding the pressed peel to 

 the flame of a candle; should it neither crackle nor diminish 

 the brilliancy of the flame the cells are empty. This process 

 yields besides the essence a small quantity of juice and feccia 

 (dregs). The separation of tiie essence, juice, and feccia soon 

 takes place if the vessels are not disturbed; the oil floats on 

 the juice and the dregs fall to the bottom. These three products 

 derived from the peel have no affinity with one another. As 

 the essence rises to the surface it is skimmed off, bottled, and 

 left to settle for a few days. It is then drawn off with a glass 

 siphon into copper cans, which are liermetically sealed. 



" The yield of essence is very variable. This industry is 

 carried on five months in the year. Immature fruit contains 

 the most oil. From November to April, in the province of 

 Messina, one thousand lemons yield about 14 ounces of essence 

 and 17 gallons of juice. An operative expresses three baskets 

 of lemon peel (weighing 190 pounds) a day, and is paid 20 

 cents a basket. The essence is so valuable that the operatives 

 are closely watched; they are most ingenious in secreting it 

 about their persons. Six men work up eight thousand lemons 

 a day; two cut off the peel while four extract the essence, and 

 obtain 136 gallons of lemon-juice and seven pounds of essence. 

 In the extraction of essence, defective fruit— thorn-pricked fruit, 

 fruit blown down by the wind or attacked by rust— is used. This 

 fruit is sold by the "thousand," equivalent to 260 pounds, and 



