231 



next, and thus the essential oil is left alone floating on tne top. The 

 system of remuneration adopted here in Sicily is worth noticing from 

 general fairness, as it allows of the workman being rewarded in propor- 

 tion te the work performed. They are therefore neither rewarded at 

 a fixed rate, which would encourage idleness by inducing the labourer 

 to disregard the amount of rinds which he may squeeze, nor are they 

 paid on the quantity of rinds employed, which might cause negligence 

 in the squeezing of the essence ;every sfumatore or strizzatore is remu- 

 nerated therefore in proportion to the amount of essence he succeeds in 

 extracting out of 35 kilos, of rinds, working day and night. This volatile 

 substance, which serves so many purposes, is in such general demand that 

 it commands good, and on the whole, steady price on the European mar- 

 kets when produced by well-known and respectable firms, so that all adul- 

 terations of these substances are carefully guarded against, although from 

 the great facilities and inducements offered for adulteration through the 

 ready absorption of some foreign substance, many instances have occurred 

 of impure essential oils being exported. The most common adulteration 

 of these volatile substances is through the medium of various fixed oils, 

 such as resin and turpentine, and sometimes with turpentine. Apart 

 from those scientific tests practised by those analytical chemists whose 

 presence of late in Sicily has contributed to restore the old reputation 

 of the Sicilian essences, tests which are not always practically available, 

 there are several very simple methods sufficiently accurate for all or- 

 dinary cases, which require no chemical training, and, in the case of the 

 adulteration having been effected through fixed oils or resins, no spe- 

 cial apparatus. Should the foreign matter be an oil or a resin its pre- 

 sence will be revealed by pouring a few drops of the suspected liquid on 

 a leaf of unsized paper and heating it ; the heat will cause the volatile 

 particles of the essence to fly off, leaving behind a small oily spot or 

 stain, with a strong resinous odour if a resinous substance has been ad- 

 mixed ; but if the substance added to the essence be alcohol, which be- 

 ing a spirit itself could not be detected by the same simple method of 

 evaporation, a somewhat more complicated process is adopted in Sicily, 

 and doubtless in the other essence-producing regions of Italy, viz : the 

 introduction of a few pieces of chloride of lime into the adulterated es- 

 sence, these combine very readily with the alcohol, and extract it from 

 the essence. There is, no doubt, however, that the frequency of these 

 adulterations had discredited and unsettled the market prices of this 

 article, so that it became imperative, or at least most expedient, in some 

 cases to submit it to analytical test ere if was exported, without which 

 it was received abroad with much circumspection unless it bore the trade 

 mark of some well-known firm. Thanks, however, to the measures taken 

 of late to guarantee the genuineness of the Sicilian essential oils, these 

 have redeemed their character and regained their place on foreign mar- 

 kets. Caeteris paribus, the value of the volatile oil depends wholly 

 the variety of the citrus whence it is expressed, and that squeezed from 

 the peel of the bergamot is the most highly prized, that of the lemon 

 coming next, while the orange essence only occupies the third place in 

 the scale of value. 



Salted Fruit. 



The preservation of lemons, oranges, and citrons destined for abroad, 

 not for actual and immediate consumption in their integrity, but which 



