Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Oct.,  1889. 
Manufacture  of  Peel  Essences. 
513 
Mr.  Rizzuto  is  a  typical  specimen  of  the  robust  Italian,  grizzled 
by  the  hardships  of  the  Garibaldian  campaigns  and  the  wars  under 
Victor  Emmanuel  which  gave  Italy  her  freedom.  A  tough  old 
soldier  he  is,  bearing  still  the  scars  of  wounds  received  when  serving 
his  country.  But  it  is  of  his  manufactures  rather  than  his  personality 
that  we  have  to  report.  He  tells  us  that  the  finest  products  are  made 
by  the  old-fashioned  sponge  method,  such  as  Mr.  F.  W.  Warrick 
briefly  described  in  a  paper  which  we  published  last  year.  This 
method  is  very  simple,  and  is  used  for  the  production  of  the  finest 
essences.  There  are,  we  may  state,  nine  different  varieties  or  odors, 
lemon  and  bergamot  being  the  chief.  The  trade  names  under  which 
these  varieties  go  are:  "  Bergarnote,"  "Bergarnote  doree  (mure)," 
"Bergarnote  extrait  a  la  main,"  " Citron  (lirnone),"  "Citron  vert 
(cru),"  "Portugal,"  " Portugal  rnuscade,"  "Bigarade,"  "Mandarine," 
"Limette,"  "Cedrin  (c£drino),"  and  " Cedrat (cedrone)."  By  "a  la 
main  "  is  meant  the  sponge  process,  which  consists  simply  of  taking 
the  whole  fruit,  dividing  it  into  four  parts,  and  pressing  the  external 
part  of  the  peel  against  a  sponge,  which  sucks  up  the  essence  as  it  is 
ejected  from  the  oil  sacs.  Although  this  is  a  very  primitive  process 
the  essences  which  are  obtained  by  it  are  far  and  away  the  best,  but 
the  loss  of  essence  is  so  great  and  the  process  so  tedious  that  it  is  only 
applicable  for  those  products  which  fetch  a  good  price.  Still,  Mr. 
Rizzuto  told  us  several  famous  perfumers  will  only  use  lemon,  ber- 
gamot, etc.,  prepared  in  this  way;  and  King  Humbert,  who  has  a 
likiug  for  a  single  drop  of  "Cedrino"  in  his  coffee,  gets  the  a  la  main 
essence,  costing  110  francs  per  kilo,  in  first  hands.  This  flavor  is  also 
much  used  for  ices. 
For  ordinary  commercial  purposes  the  essences  are  pressed  out  of 
the  peel  by  means  of  a  machine,  which  is  entirely  constructed  of  wood, 
saviug  the  handle  which  turns  the  wheel.  Contact  with  metal  seriously 
affects  the  quality  of  the  essence.  The  machine  stands  about  I  feet 
in  height,  and  its  structure  is  simple.  The  whole  fruits  are  placed 
under  the  central  circular  portion,  where  the  lower  and  upper  surfaces 
are  corrugated  so  as  to  press  the  peel  unequally  in  order  to  break  the 
oil  sacs.  The  expressed  essence  is  collected  in  a  vessel  below,  and 
after  settling  for  some  time  it  is  filtered  through  felt  bags.  Essences 
prepared  by  this  method  are  what  are  known  in  commerce  as  the 
finest,  those  made  by  the  sponge  process  being  scarcely  regarded  as 
"commercial,"  their  high  price  necessarily  confining  their  use  to  those 
