Scientific and other notes on essential oils. 57 



as is the practice in some parts. While wild sage seems very plentiful in the vicinity 

 of Fiume, the business of gathering it commercially has not been taken up, except 

 on the neighbouring islands of Chersoland Veglia. During its blooming season the 

 bees gather the nectar, and genuine sage honey .commands the highest price, owing 

 to its' flavour. 



In the regions where sage grows, its leaves are boiled with vinegar and used as 

 a tonic. A decoction is also made from it for darkening the hair. It is used more 

 as a domestic remedy than by physicians. It is given in the form of a tea for night- 

 sweating and diarrhoea, and is used as a gargle for bleeding gums, catarrh, and to 

 prevent excessive flow of saliva. The oil is used for removing heavy collections of 

 mucus in the respiratory organs. Its fresh leaves are used as a tooth wash, and it is 

 a common ingredient in tooth powders. The dry leaves are used for smoking as a 

 remedy for asthma. The domestic consumption accounts for a very small proportion 

 of the crop, as it is gathered chiefly for export. 



The leaves are harvested from May to September, but those plucked in midsummer 

 are considered the best. The general opinion is that it should be gathered before the 

 bloom opens, but the Austrian Pharmacopoeia says it is best when gathered during 

 bloom. 



The only treatment required for the leaves intended for export is drying. The 

 leaves must not be exposed to sunlight while being dried, hence drying is done in the 

 cottages of the pickers. When thoroughly dried, the woolly hairy dust of the leaves is 

 removed by sifting. It is estimated that 9 lbs. of fresh leaves yield 2 lbs. of the 

 dried herb. After drying, the leaves are sorted and generally pressed into bales of 

 100 to 300 kilos (220 to 660 lbs.) and bound with iron bands. 



The essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of the fresh leaves, producing 

 from 1.3 to 2.5 per cent, of oil. 



Large quantities of sage were formerly sent to Germany, whence a good deal was 

 shipped to Great Britain and the United States. 



Sandalwood Oil, East Indian. By far the largest part of the abundant stocks 

 of the German distillate still available is in our hands. We were thus in a position 

 to counteract successfully every attempt to push the prices. 



There are no recent news as to the fate of the newly erected factory of the Mysore 

 Government 1 ), so that one is entitled to suppose that it did not get much farther than 

 the starting point, as otherwise the English would surely not have missed to announce 

 to the world at large, with more or less fanciful embellishments, this "triumph" of 

 English enterprise. 



Some time ago, the German professional press copied on several occasions a 

 rumour set afloat in England, according to which we had established a branch factory 

 in Spain with a view to import sandalwood there and to do the French sandalwood 

 oil business from Spain, thus preventing that this trade might be spoilt for us in the 

 hostile countries. It was even added that we had offered the oil at 101 francs per kilo. 

 This rumour is derived from the Madras WeeMy Mail of September 22 nd , 1916, which 

 brings also several other news from India on sandalwood and its elaboration. We beg- 

 to state that the notice concerning our firm is a lie from beginning to end and refrain 

 from reporting on the further contents of the article, as it is to be presumed that it 

 will agree with the facts just as little. There they talk big about the Mysore distill- 



) Report October 1916, 51. 



