A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of, commented Ogden Nash in ‘A Dog’s Best Friend is his Illiteracy’. Also the dog, once described by John Sparrow in a letter to The Times as “that indefatigable and unsavoury engine of pollution”, cares not a jot about the hour when in extremis.

It is 0530, and already disturbed by the indigestion of the local dustcart as it gobbles greedily through the village waste Mungu detects his own gastrointestinal system rumbling in accord. Untrimmed claws strafe my leg, and a wet nose and spine-like whiskers in my face ensure that I am most aware of his urgent needs.

The chill blast rips through me like a knife, and I close quickly the door.  The wagging tail is soon enveloped by the wintry gloom, and I head for a warming cup of java. Within seconds, or so it seems, my canine friend is back. Flurries of snow whistle about my ears as he dallies overlong, debating whether all is truly done.  Frozen rigid, I slam the door again. I open and close this barrier to the elements more than half a dozen times within the hour.

With the snow lying crisp and even, the scents are more enhanced.  Eventually he trees the neighbour’s cat and all is forgiven, because this feline philanderer has been running amuck midst Jan’s tubs of sprouting bulbs. Good boy, Mung!
The Mpemba Effect.
Rosy-fingered dawn unfurls slowly, and the first blackbirds are already scuttling purposefully about before it is fully light. This is a demanding time for our feathered friends, and I make all effort to ensure that they are fed and watered.

As I eject the frozen slab from the bird bath I recollect that Francis Bacon said that hot water freezes quicker than cold water, and replenish the bowl with icy liquid. This phenomenon is extremely counter-intuitive, and surprising even to scientists, but is in fact real. It has been seen and studied in numerous experiments.  This wonder is often called the Mpemba effect, after its introduction to the modern scientific community in 1969 by a Tanzanian student named Erasto Mpemba who discovered that ice cream mixture froze more quickly when put in the freezer hot than if allowed to cool to room temperature first. Why?

I’m not at all sure, and it is still a hotly debated question, but one explanation is that it is because the hot water molecules have enough hot energy to leave the body of water as steam, taking heat energy away from the water. Only some cold water molecules have enough energy to do this and so don’t leave the body of water as often.  Thus, although the hot water is hotter, it loses its heat much faster because its molecules have more energy.  What do you think?

Footling Facts!
Mung, birds and I having breakfasted, I set off across icy roads for my monthly meet with the podiatrist.  Although I may neglect many things, I do look after my feet.  In fact I view feet much as I do tyres on a car: they do an awful lot of work and yet are too often neglected by many.

The average person will walk around 128,000 kilometres in a lifetime - that’s more than three times around the globe.  Well you can’t just drop into Kwik-Fit for a new set when they feel a little worn, and so a little judicious maintenance seems to make good sense.

Although it is rare that two feet are exactly the same, one of them is often larger than the other, they do contain a quarter of all the body’s bones.  Furthermore, when walking, each time your heel leaves the ground it forces the toes to carry one half of your body weight.

Meanwhile, whilst you’re doing all this padding around, it is worth bearing in mind that there are 250,000 sweat glands in a pair of feet which produce approximately 500ml of perspiration daily.  Quite a thought?!

And for those who have young babies and may wish to hedge against inflation by purchasing future shoe requirements now, I am reliably informed that during the first year of a child’s life their feet grow rapidly, reaching almost half their adult size.  By 12, a child’s foot is about 90% of its adult length. Had I known all this at the time, I could have saved myself a fortune on Justin’s footwear.  Mind you there’s no accounting for fashion!

Allaying concern.
I am somewhat concerned as to the article in your Newsletter [130] detailing the dangers of DEHP as I am 4 months pregnant and have been using Chanel 5 and Elnett and other products daily.  What are your thoughts on this? Should all pregnant women stop using them? e-mailed Zoe Evans.

As news breaks and deadlines threaten it is often not possible to check thoroughly the “news behind the news”, let alone have personal thoughts.  However your concern is my concern, and I contacted the European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates (ECPI) for their view.

Contrary to what Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) would like to make consumers believe, phthalate plasticisers have been used extensively for more than forty years without a single known case of anyone having been harmed as a result.  During this time they have been continuously and extensively evaluated and are among the best researched of all chemicals in use today.

This knowledge has been used by the EU in producing comprehensive risk assessments on the main phthalates. These risk assessments show that the concerns expressed by such consumer groups have been exaggerated and that phthalates can be used in most applications without risk to human health or to the environment. Their use in cosmetics is no exception.

The fact that cosmetics contain phthalates is not a problem and poses no risk to either human health or the environment. Indeed, the use of the most frequently found phthalate (Diethyl phthalate - DEP) has been specifically supported by the EU Scientific Committee for Cosmetic Products [Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Cosmetic Products and Non-Food Products Intended  for Consumers concerning Diethyl phthalate adopted by the SCCNFP during the 20th Plenary Meeting of 4 June 2002].

Two of the phthalates mentioned in the HCWH report - Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) are classified as hazardous in the EU. But the fact that a chemical is classified as hazardous does not necessarily mean there is a risk. In all the cases cited by Health Care Without Harm there is no risk to human health.

The reason DEHP and DBP are classified as hazardous substances is because at some time or other there has been a scientific study which has shown that they are capable of causing adverse health effects in rodents. In both cases, however, these are at levels of exposure many times higher than would be experienced by humans.

The exaggerated nature of HCWH’s claims can best be illustrated by looking at their own figures in the report and the examples of the products they highlight.

A 60 kilo person would have to use approximately 30 litres of perfume per day for their entire life; or 20 kilos of body spray per day; or 40 cans of hair spray every day (and manage to absorb all of it) in order to reach exposure levels approaching those at which adverse health effects might be seen in rodents.
 
Be this the case, I don’t think that Zoe has much to worry about!

Marvelling at Marula.
Back in October 1999 I wrote about a large tree, which shades the Hope Fountain Church near Bulawayo, suggesting that it might be another Argan (Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels) because its nut has high nutritive value and a high oil content (56%) with a very good dietetic ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids.  As usual, I thought little more about it until a sample of the oil landed on my desk the other day.

Marula (Sclerocarya birrea (A. Rich) Hochst. subsp. caffra (Sond.) Kokwaro) is a member of the Anacardiaceae family, which includes amongst others cashew (Anacardium), mango (Mangifera), pistachio (Pistacia), sumachs (Rhus), and lacquer (Gluta, Rhus).  An erect tree of up to 15 metres tall, with a rounded crown and a rough, flaky, mottled bark, it is widely distributed throughout the African continent. In southern Africa, only the subspecies caffra is found.

The leaves are divided into 10 or more pairs of sharply pointed leaflets.  The flowers are borne in small oblong clusters.  Male and female flowers occur separately, usually but not always on separate trees.  Large, rounded, slightly flattened fruit of about 30 millimetres in diameter are borne in profusion in late summer to midwinter, but mainly between January and March. The fruit is much sought after for its delicious pulp, high vitamin C content and tasty, edible nuts.  The pip contains three oblong nuts, each protected by a small bony “lid” which becomes detached when the pip is cracked between stones.

The fruits fall naturally and accumulate under the trees in large numbers. They ripen to a pale yellow colour, and are collected as an important foodstuff and to brew traditional marula beer. Marula fruit pulp is used to flavour the well known Amarula liqueur and commercial marula beer.  The high pectin content also makes it ideal for the manufacture of fruit jelly.

Marula fruit pulp is not only delicious, but also highly nutritious, with a vitamin C content of between two and four times that of orange juice.  The tasty nuts, an important food item in rural areas, are difficult to extract from the stony pips. In the extreme northern part of South Africa, every Phalaborwa woman used to wear around her neck as a pendant a traditional instrument specially designed to extract marula nuts from the stones, and such instruments have been found in ancient archaeological sites. 

In traditional medicine, the leaves, bark and roots of this important African fruit tree are used for a variety of purposes, including fresh leaves for heartburn and bark or root decoctions for diarrhoea, diabetes, fever and malaria. The bark is astringent and the anti-diarrhoeal effects have been linked to procyanidins [Galvez, J. et al. 1993. Pharmacological activity of a procyanidin isolated from Sclerocarya birrea bark: anti-diarrhoeal activity and effects on isolated guinea-pig ileum. Phytother. Res. 7: 25-28].

The Tsonga people of South Africa and Mozambique use the oil for cooking and as a moisturiser and as a baby oil. With a high content (72%) of the eighteen-carbon monounsaturated Oleic fatty acid and 12% of the sixteen-carbon saturated Palmitic fatty acid I do find this a most emollient oil, which is easily absorbed into the skin.  Although a little costly, which unfortunately is often the case when a new oil is introduced to market, I think it worth a try.

A powerful voice.
Lord, I’d  almost forgotten, I am due to speak to the local Women’s Institute (WI) this afternoon! What about?  I haven’t an idea but, no doubt, I shall think of something.  My knowledge of the WI being limited to memories of trestle-tables laden with thick, splendidly wodgy, scones dripping with lemon curd and batallions of unlikely potted conserves, I think that I had better mug up a little on this “modern voice for women”.

The first Women’s Institute was founded at Stoney Creek [Ontario, Canada, I presume] in 1897 by Adelaide Hoodless for wives of members of the Farmers’ Institute.  Mrs. Hoodless was already an important member of another women’s movement, already world-wide in its scope - The National Council of Women. Her suggestion to form an Institute for Women at which they could enjoy advantages similar to those given to the men at the Farmers’ Institute, and which included instruction as well as social amenities was, in essence, an extension of priciples with which she was already familiar in her work as a member of The National Council of Women. What she was aiming at was the education of women with regard to their efficiency in their work and to take a wider role in their local communities.

Well, she seems to have done a pretty good job.  The first WI in the UK met in North Wales at Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll in 1915, and today there are approximately 240,000 members throughout the United Kingdom. Through its affiliation to the Associated Country Women of the World, it has links with several million women in 70 countries.

The WI is the largest voluntary organisation for women.  Through close community ties and wide-ranging activities, the WI plays a unique role in enabling women to turn their interests into achievements and their concerns into campaigns.

The WI has an unrivalled reputation as a voice of reason, integrity and intelligence on issues that matter to women and their communities. Debt relief, human rights, support for British agriculture, sustainable development and climate change are just some of the issues currently on the WI’s campaigning agenda.

Over the years, the WI has passed a number of radical, forward thinking campaigning mandates.  For example, in 1943 that men and women should receive equal pay for equal work, in 1973 that local authorities should provide full, free, Family Planning Service and in 1927 clearing and protecting our seas from oil pollution.

In 2001, the WI passed three new mandates, on the provision of school nurses, abuse of the elderly and a call for for an investigation into the Foot and Mouth crisis, to add to the campaigning agenda.

The WI offers the opportunity to be active in the community and to learn new skills and make friends through courses, conferences, local and national campaigning, arts and crafts, sports, social activities and other practical or leisure activities. Training is available in many different subjects, some offering certification. Experience of committee work, practice in public speaking and insight into the most pressing social, political and environmental issues of the day lead many WI members to stand for parish, district and county councils, return to the labour market, to become magistrates and to take a more effective and informed part in public and community life.

Mrs. Hoodless, my hat’s off to you!

Fitch?
“.....For the fitches are not thrashed with a threshing instrument.....but the fitches are beaten out with a staff.....”  Isaiah 28:27. What on earth is fitch?  I searched for the original text in the King James Version of the Bible, scanning first the preceding verses.

.....When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cumin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?.....

None the wiser, I consulted the New King James Version.

.....When he has levelled its surface, does he not sow the black cumin, and scatter the cumin, plant the wheat in rows, the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt [?Triticum aestivum: common bread wheat] in its place?.....

Aha black cumin (Nigella sativa L.), the essential oil of which we have stocked for several years. Recently, however, I have been asked by several for cold pressed black cumin seed oil.  Did not the Prophet Muhammad say of black cumin seed...Use this black seed, it has a cure for every disease except death...?  Although my Encyclopaedia of Islamic Medicine is not quite so expansive it does commend that the seeds of Nigella sativa when pressed produce an oil useful in nervous cough and chest diseases. Dose: 1 drop in a coffee-cup.  It mentions also that it is stomachic, diuretic, emmenagogue, carminative and causes salivation.

Efficacy investigated.
The seeds of Nigella sativa are commonly used in the Middle East as a condiment and medicine for a variety of complaints including stiffness in the joints, bronchial asthma and eczema.

In order to substantiate the traditional use of N. sativa and its derived products as a treatment for rheumatism and related inflammatory diseases, researchers tested the fixed oil and thymoquinone (a major component of the volatile oil) as possible inhibitors of eicosanoid generation and membrane lipid peroxidation [Houghton, P.J. et al. Fixed oil of Nigella sativa and derived thymoquinone inhibit eicosanoid generation in leukocytes and membrane lipid peroxidation. Planta Medica (1995), 61(1): 33-36].

Thymoquinone was very potent.  However, the inhibition of eicosanoid generation [the eicosanoids can collectively mediate almost every aspect of the inflammatory response] and lipid peroxidation by the fixed oil was greater than was expected from its content of thymoquinone (ca. 0.2% w/v), and it is possible that other components such as the unusual C20:2 unsaturated fatty acids may contribute also to its anti-eicosanoid and antioxidant activity.  These pharmacological properties of the oil support its traditional use.

More recently, the effect of N. sativa crushed seeds and total oil on serum levels of glucose, cholestrol triglycerides, creatine kinase, prolactin, red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), platelets, haemoglobin and some liver enzymes, such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and gamma glutamyl- transferase (g-GT), in healthy female volunteers (aged 22 years) was investigated.

Crushed seeds produced a significant increase in RBCs, WBCs and haemoglobin levels, while total oil increased haemoglobin levels.  Only the total oil produced a significant increase in ALT and AST. Both total oil and crushed seeds showed a a significant increase in g-GT and ALP [Ibraheim, Z.Z. Effect of Nigella sativa seeds and total oil on some blood parameters in female volunteers. Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal (2002), 10 (1/2), 54-59].

Is it safe?         
As several references commend ingestion of the oil, I thought it not a bad idea to check if it was safe for such use. Toxicity of the fixed oil in mice and rats through determination of LD50 levels and examination of possible biochemical, haematological and histopathological changes has been researched [Zaoui, A. et al. Acute and chronic toxicity of Nigella sativa fixed oil. Phytomedicine (2002), 9 (1), 69-74].

The acute toxicity of N. sativa fixed oil was investigated in mice.  LD50 values, obtained by single doses, orally and intraperitoneally administered in mice, were 28.8 ml/kg body weight (p.o.) and 2.06 ml/kg body weight (i.p.), respectively.

The chronic toxicity was studied in rats treated daily with an oral dose of 2 ml/kg body weight for 12 weeks. Changes in key hepatic enzymes levels, including AST, ALT, and g-GT and histopathological modifications (heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas) were not observed after 12 weeks of treatment.  The serum cholestrol, triglyceride and glucose levels, and the count of leukocytes and platelets decreased significantly, compared to control levels, while haematocrit and haemoglobin levels increased significantly.  A slowing of body weight was also observed in the rats, compared to control animals.

The low toxicity of the fixed oil, evidenced by high LD50 values, key hepatic enzyme stability and organ integrity, suggests a wide margin of safety for therapeutic doses, but the changes in haemoglobin metabolism and the fall in leukocyte and platelet count must be taken into consideration.

Ouch!
Twenty years before I met Jan I had, perhaps providentially, already crossed swords with her father whilst at preparatory school: Dr. Elliott was the school’s visiting physician.

Unless genuinely ill, I used to avoid his weekly surgeries like the plague.  Matron, however, often had other plans: I wondered sometimes if she was not on some sort of commission.  The smallest cut, bruise or abrasion was always referred to “doctor”, and God help you if you had the slightest constipation.

At the time I had a rather ugly, large wart on my knee which, wearing short trousers, I feared would quickly attract Matron’s scrutiny.  Would the dreaded doctor cut it off or, worse still, amputate my leg?  The prospect of it all was quite disturbing, and I resolved to do the surgery myself. 

With my Scout knife - you know the sort of thing, one large blade and a spike-like instrument for removing stones from horses’ hooves - I set about this delicate operation.  Of course I completely botched it, and blood shot everywhere.  Wells has cut his leg!  Wells has cut his leg! screamed some little nark. 

Matron materialised from nowhere, and “doctor”was called.  He was not at all pleased.  I learned years later that it was his afternoon off and he had been about to go fishing, when the urgent summons came.  I got a thorough wigging, no sympathy, and the wart was painfully removed with acid from a steaming bottle.  To cap it all, I received also a severe thrashing from the Headmaster.  However, had I known then what I know now, much pain could have been avoided.

In a recent research study Duct tape (that handy stuff for heavy-duty jobs around the house) was pitted against cryotherapy, to remove warts.  The tape was cut to size to cover the wart, and a fresh piece was put on six days later.

In all, 85% of patients had their warts removed successfully with the tape compared with just 60% using cryotherapy.  The only complication from the tape was minor skin irritations [Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med., 2002; 156: 971-4].

Sprucing up!
I have never been too hot on my hemlocks and my spruces and thus, when asked recently for pruche, I had to do a little revision.

The hemlock and spruce trees are closely related tall evergreens of the family Pinaceae, with slender horizontal branches and finely toothed leaves.  They grow in many parts of North America from the East Coast to the West Coast.

The most important species are: Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr., the so-called Eastern Hemlock or Pruche de l’Est; Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg., the Western Hemlock, Prince Albert Fir, Gray Fir, Alaska Pine or Western Hemlock; Picea mariana (Mill.) Britton et al., the so-called Black Spruce or Bog Spruce; and Picea glauca (Moench) Voss, the White Spruce or Black Hills Spruce.

Commercial essential oil of hemlock or oil of spruce, as it is sometimes called, is often not derived from one single well-defined species of hemlock or spruce, but from mixed branches and leaves of the four species, no distinction being made in the collection of the distillation material. As a result, the physicochemical properties of commercial oils vary within rather wide limits.  Therefore I am always keen to analyse most carefully any samples of spruce or hemlock oils that I receive.

I have just had fresh supplies of Black Spruce oil from Canada.  The analysis before me reveals endo-bornyl acetate (36.07%), camphene (14.96%), a-pinene (9.24%), and 3-carene (7.14%) as major components.

Jeanne Rose, in her informative Guide to 375 Essential Oils, suggests that its properties are hormone-like, possibly stimulating the thymus gland and with cortisone-like properties that affect the hypothalamus/pituitary/adrenal axis.

It is indicated for bronchitis, as an antifungal for candida, for prostatitis, solar plexus spasms, asthenic conditions, and for sudden fatigue and exhaustion. Jeanne also comments that it is possibly an aid for asthmatics taking corticosteroids.

No sooner had I put down Jeanne’s book than an e-mail from Victoria Plum arrived.  She not knowing that I was writing this, it was quite spooky! 

My new big find, Black Spruce. It has the most wonderful, unusual energy. Incredibly grounding, very strengthening, nourishing, very very warming - but in a completely different way to, say, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, etc. - it’s almost like ‘a fire within’.  It is a brilliant oil to use in stress.  You can just feel this incredible rich earthy energy.

What more can I say?! 
        



charles@essentiallyoils.com
 

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