Mea culpa! I forgot completely to include details of our Christmas and New Year closing and opening times in my last Newsletter. As a result, I was told quite firmly that I would be on duty on my own!  Unfortunately, most assumed that we were closed and so I didn’t have much to do. Still, it did give me plenty of time to catch up on my reading.

I do like Christmas! Now being old enough, I reject out-and-out any gifts of handkerchiefs, socks, toiletries, or underpants. Instead, on the 1st of January each year I begin to compile my list of most wanted books. Beside each entry, I write carefully “likely”, “doubtful” and “not an earthly”: this may be on account of cost, or simply because the book has been out of print for several years.  As Yuletide approaches, I make my requests completely clear.....and hope!  If I am in the slightest doubt, I buy the book as a present to myself!

As you can imagine, because I now write for five motoring publications, motorbooks tend to dominate. Last year’s list was perhaps a little esoteric, and I ended up with a stack of presents from myself!  However, I was delighted to find, amongst those from others, Ben Selinger’s highly entertaining Chemistry in the Marketplace (5th Edn). If you enjoy fresh sights, new foods, and making voyages of discovery into the world around you, you will enjoy this book.

This unique reference book explores the hidden world of chemistry that surrounds us in our daily life: in the bedroom (perfumes, deodorants and sunscreens); the kitchen (nutrition, food preparation and commercial processing); the restaurant (wine, food additives and poisons).  It leads you into the garden where a consumer’s safety guide is essential, through the chemistry of soils, weeds and pesticides. It explores your car (petrol, batteries and solar energy), your home safety (toxicity and flammability), your shopping basket (plastics, glass and metals) and the environment (the ozone layer and greenhouse effect). 

New Scientist, in a review of a previous edition, commented: “Excellent and pioneering....it forced me to think, informed me greatly and made me laugh.” How right!  Did you know that in 1770, stimulated by the widespread use of cosmetics, a Bill was allegedly introduced into the British Parliament that read:

....that all women, of whatever age, rank, profession or degree, whether virgins, maids or widows, that shall impose upon, seduce and betray into matrimony, any of His Majesty’s subjects by the scents, sprays, cosmetic washes, artificial teeth, false hair, Spanish wool, iron stays, hoops, high-heeled shoes and bolstered hips, shall incur the penalty of law in force against withcraft and like misdemeanours and that marriage upon conviction shall stand null and void.

A great story, but Ben Selinger’s search of Great Britain’s Statutes at Large right back to Magna Carta found no such Act recorded.  However, his investigation of aromatherapy, based on the premise that scents affect moods and emotion at a deep level, revealed that there is one patent published that is claimed to induce people to pay bills when the paper is impregnated with a particular substance!  I’m on the trail!
Herbal help for the farm.
Another book gem among my presents was The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable by Juliette de Baïracli Levy. With the growing interest in organic farming and increasing concern about the diet of farm animals, this completely updated edition (in 1991) is a ‘must’ for those farmers and smallholders who would like to increase their knowledge of proven herbal treatments. At the time, Farmers Weekly was moved to comment.....

Every farmer should have this book for, used with common sense in combination with modern veterinary and farming methods, it could help us avoid some of the mistakes stemming from unlimited use of chemical fertilizers, insecticides, antibiotics and the like.

A book on herbal medicine for farm and stable is a vast undertaking, the diseases of farm animals being manifold owing to man’s mismanagement and ignorance of the simple and unchanging laws of nature; and, above all, his over-commercialization of the earth and the creatures that he has domesticated.  Shelley rightly stated that man’s dominance over the animals was one of disease and pain, for the animals. The ailments dealt with in this book are mostly unknown among the wild animal species from which the domestic breeds are derived; this providing a good example of the error of over-domestication of animals, with its consequent artificial rearing methods and medical treatments.

There must be reason for the present-day disuse of herbs and popularity of chemical and vaccine therapy. Miss Baïracli Levy thinks that apart from the prevalent lack of time, or laziness, which makes the modern farmer loath to busy himself with the preparation of his own medicines, the cause is modern commercialism and the power of advertisement. The present-day farmer has been educated to consider disease as inevitable and the only scientific cure as being in the artificial remedies of the modern veterinary surgeon who, through over-rigid orthodox training and himself under the influence of advertisement, is too often a mere vendor of the products of the vast and powerful chemical and serum manufacturers. What do you think?          

In his book, Pleasant Valley, author Louis Bromfield well describes the true farmer: ‘A good farmer in our times has to know more about things than a man in any other profession.  He has to be a biologist, a veterinary, a mechanic, a botanist, a horticulturist and many other things.  He has to have an open mind, eager and ready to absorb new knowledge, new ideas and new ideals.’ Yet how many modern farmers are botanists?

Reluctant to reveal.
There was a news report today [21st December, 2004] about three essential oils that could halt many infections.  Could you provide the names of these oils? asked John Aarts.

Briefly, University of Manchester researchers found that three essential oils, usually used in aromatherapy, destroyed MRSA and E. coli bacteria in two minutes.

They suggest that the oils can be blended into soaps and shampoos which could be used in hospitals to stop the spread of the superbug. Hospital-acquired infections, such as MRSA, kill an estimated 5,000 people each year and cost the NHS around £1 billion a year.

The Manchester study was triggered when complementary medicine specialists at Christie Cancer Hospital asked University researchers to test essential oils. They wanted to ensure they could not harm the patients, whose immune systems are weakened by the treatments.  Dr. Peter Warn, who carried out the research, said: “When I tested the oils in the lab, absolutely nothing grew. Rather than stimulating bacteria and fungi, the oils killed them off.”

The team then tested 40 essential oils against 10 of the most infectious agents found in hospitals, including MRSA.

However, all my efforts to find out more have drawn a blank, because the researchers are reluctant to name the oils as it might spoil the trial.  Drat! Anyhow, Maureen Plimley has e-mailed me with a splendid idea....

Why don’t your enlightened readers send in their suggestions as to what they think might be the three most potent and effective oils?

Dr. Val Edwards-Jones, who has pioneered similar research at Manchester Metropolitan University, has most kindly offered to review your selections and discuss what might and what might not be effective in our fight against superbugs. 

This is a rare opportunity, because Val has been looking into the problem for several years and has made some quite surprising discoveries.   


Ongoing debate.
I am writing to ask what your opinions are regarding organically grown plants, especially for the production of essential oils.  I have read various articles on this subject, one of which states that all essential oils should come from organically grown plants because the benefits are far greater than non-organically grown. Of course there has to be proof that you can trust and this has to be passed on to the customer, e-mailed Philippa Dean.

In many ways, I am probably the wrong person to ask such a question because I believe that the only way to tell that the terrain is truly organic is to graze a cow upon the grass, milk the cow and make butter from the milk, and then analyse the butter.  I issued this challenge some years ago, but not one responded.  Also, despite what many may think, I am of the opinion that the organic production of aromatic plants is still very small and I doubt that all organic oils are what they claim. Of course I may be wrong, but I await others to dispel my doubts.

Nevertheless, when I first addressed this question almost 15 years ago, I noted.....

Organic oils, where they may exist, need to be more closely defined. Technically, essential oils are all organic compounds, so they could be described as such.  They are, however, the result of either distillation or solvent extraction and as such are a secondary product. The certificating body in the United Kingdom is the Soil Association and its definition of organic is fairly strict and would exclude most oil plants as it is based upon soil fertility.

The international body (IFOAM) is a collection of members in several countries.  Each can have their own definition, this being limited to aspects of cultivation. It should be noted that oils classified as organic by members of IFOAM are not tested as part of their definition.

Also, it cannot be presumed that the production of oil plants in remote or rural areas is automatically free from contamination. Mercuric poisoning of water in Brazil or the effects of radioactivity from nuclear disasters can lead to pollution over enormous distances. Furthermore, one must remember that “toxic dumping” is now universal, both in industrial and non-industrial countries.

Have things really changed that much, I wonder?  Still, the question posed is whether organic oils are in some way superior.

If there is any advantage in organic oils, this ought to be revealed by comparative analyses of oil profiles and tests for residual herbicides, fertilizers or pesticides, but where are these analyses?  Without them I am unable to make an objective judgement, but is this really what some seek?

Energy medicine.
With traditional chemistry already confirming the activities of essential oils, it may seem a little strange that some aromatherapists continue to be firmly committed to more esoteric aspects, which are grounded in ‘energy’ medicine such as homoeopathy and flower remedies, and it has been suggested that it is these aspects that have kept aromatherapy as an alternative therapy.  However, aromatherapy is individualistic and should remain so.

Nevertheless, as comparative studies continue between synthetics versus naturals and the EC pushes for standard products, it may be more difficult for these therapists, often vitalists, to sustain their commitment, because these standard products are likely to lack the necessary submolecular level of energy which they believe exists in wild grown material. 

Unlike naturally inorganic or man-made synthetic substances, materials, and products, essential oils are very much alive.  Unlike isolated constituents, essential oils are correctly balanced in all their vital activity.  Compared with other natural organic substances, plant essential oils are more healthful, vitally pure, and active. The psychotherapeutic activity of essential oils is at once biochemical-hormonal and electromagnetic-etheric, just as their physiotherapeutic nature acts simultaneously upon the physical body and its etheric double (sometimes called the vital body).  Therefore, essential oils are psychoactive not only by their hormonal and biochemical effects upon the body and brain but also by their direct action upon the etheric double and reciprocally upon the astral body. The etheric double responds to the topical application of essential oils in the same way it does to their fragrance, which is why many traditional holistic health and spiritual practices involve the use of aromatic oils and unguents, to protect the etheric double and physical body from unwanted, unhealthful invasions and influences.  Essential oils shield and invigorate the etheric double, magnifying the body aura by transfer of their own vital energy. 

They act metaphysically, as well as physically, to harmonize and develop the fourfold human nature (Spirit, Mind, Soul, Body), most particularly via the physical, vital, and astral bodies [Aromatherapy: Scent & Psyche, 1995, P. & K. Damian, p. 165].

A moot point.
I have read your information about organic essential oils, but of particular concern to me are the base/vegetable oils because they are used in greater quantity. I am concerned about the use/presence of chemicals/pesticides/GMO in your products, because I have an incredibly sensitive/intolerant autistic son.  He reacts to cyanide in our water supply at 10mcg/litre so you will understand that I am hung up on “trace” amounts, e-mailed Lucy Files.

Whilst we take all reasonable precautions to ensure that our products are free from organo- phosphorous compounds and the like, we simply do not have the resources to guarantee it.  Producers of vegetable oils, however, tend to be pretty good at providing as much meaningful information as possible, because their products are invariably also used for food purposes. 

Nevertheless, I share Lucy’s fears but, with thousands of pesticides awash in the environment and dozens of vaccination jabs into the arms of infants (NMR), the horse has already surely bolted. Only after an entire generation is exposed will we understand for sure the ‘opioid excess theory of autism’.

Still, I recollect reviewing some years ago a most interesting document, published by the Ministry of Agriculture’s Joint Food Safety and Standards Group - Food Surveillance Information Sheet, Number 138, November 1997.  A survey was carried out between 1995 and 1997 to determine the metal concentrations in cold pressed oils on sale in the UK. I doubt that the same has ever been done by the aromatherapy trade.

Concentrations of cadmium, copper, iron, lead and mercury were determined in 205 samples of different types of cold pressed oils (i.e. almond, grapeseed, groundnut, hazelnut, safflower, macadamia, sesame, sunflower, walnut, wheatgerm and extra virgin olive oil) obtained from retail outlets in England and Wales.  No cadmium or mercury was detected in any of the samples and concentrations of copper, iron and lead were generally below statutory limits and Codex Standards for these metals.

The oils produced by the relatively mild cold pressing technique are considered by many to have advantages compared with more refined oils.  Metals may be present in the seeds and kernels used to produce oils as a result of their presence in soil either naturally or because of environmental contamination.  However, most oils are refined by processing procedures which reduce metal concentrations.  Thus, the Report opined that the milder procedures used for cold pressed oils may be less effective. A moot point! 

Tracking down traditional perfumes.
My interest is creating a perfume gallery which would feature authentic regional/ethnic perfumes from around the world.  Do you have any ideas where to source ready-made perfumes of a local, untainted feel? If you don’t, my next bet is to locate recipes, from which I can concoct my own reproductions from high quality essential oils and absolutes, but where do I find them?

High quality attars will be a must.  Where are yours made? Why do you have so few?  Of those you’ve sampled, was price directly correlated to quality?  How does an attar compare in fragrance to a blend of absolute or essential oil with sandalwood oil? 

What a load of questions!  Still, I had better try to answer Jennifer Everett from Maryland in the ‘Land of Need to Know’, because many ask the same.

Based upon 35 years experience of living and travelling around the globe, I would suggest that the only way to obtain authentic ethnic perfumes is to travel to the countries of origin.  However, even then, there is no guarantee that they are composed of natural compounds - perfumers in India, Egypt and the Gulf are masters of deception. I have analyzed several so-called ‘natural’ perfumes from around the world, and few have been synthetic-free.

The best way to locate formulations is by reading old literary texts - the Bible is a good place to start, or a book dealing with plants of the Bible.  Bear in mind that many perfumes of the ancients were simply made by putting resins and herbs in boiling oil.  You could do it easily yourself, and it would be fun.  Remember that essential oils and absolutes are a comparatively new discovery in the greater scheme of things.

Our attars are from Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh because as Shri Munshi, a poet and former governor of Uttar Pradesh, was prompted to remark, “If you want to visit a perfumery town, visit Kannauj. It is art - it is culture and heritage.”  

Kannauj is to India what Grasse is to France, but with a perfumery tradition far more ancient. The history of Indian perfumes is inextricably linked to the history of Kannauj for it is here along with Jaunpur and Ghazipur that the industry took its root.  Kannauj, however, took an increasingly leading role maintained to this day as the centre for the manufacture of the entire range of Indian attars while the former two towns concentrated on the manufacture of floral attars from Chameli (Jasminum grandiflorum L.) and Gulab (Rosa damascena Mill.).

India’s perfumery tradition dates back over 5,000 years to the Indus Valley civilisation and the shape of the Deg (still) and Bhapka (receiver) are more or less the same today.  During the Gupta period in the 7th century A.D., the use of perfumed cream bases, facial cosmetics, hair oils and eye shadows were common.  There is mention of perfumery products in ancient Pali and Islamic texts also.

To my mind, you shouldn’t even begin to compare an attar with a blend of essential oil or absolute with sandalwood oil (Santalum album L.).  Although I have mentioned it before, let me explain why....

One of the peculiar features of attar distillation is that no separate condenser is used.  The distillation is still carried out in copper stills, as was done centuries ago. The receiver, also of copper, acts as a condenser as well. The unique odour of attars is obtained by condensing vapours into the base material, mainly sandalwood.  Sometimes a liquid paraffin is used for the manufacture of cheaper attars and flavours.  When the desired quantity of vapours have condensed, the Dighaa (a highly skilled operative) rubs a wet cloth around the body of the still for a temporary pause in distillation and the filled receiver is replaced by another receiver.

The receiver is then allowed to cool and remain idle for one or two days depending on the pressure of work.  The mixture of oil and water is then separated either directly from the receiver through a hole at the bottom or by pouring the whole mixture into an open trough. After the oil and water have separated into two layers, the water is removed from an opening in the bottom, and goes back to the still. The base material remains in the receiver.

If the desired concentration of the perfume has been reached, the finished attar is then poured into leather bottles for sedimentation and removal of moisture. Leather bottles are used for storage because they work on the basis of osmosis.  Moisture absorbs through the leather membrane leaving behind a clear liquid.

Why do we stock so few?  They are not cheap, and we can ill-afford to invest in slow-moving stock. When I am buying quality, price considerations don’t enter the equation!

A sad loss.
Micheline Arcier in London used to stock Rose Leaf Oil.  They are not doing it anymore.  I have never seen it anywhere else and I thought that you might have come across it along your travels.  I don’t really know much about it - origin, extraction method, etc. - any ideas? asked Christine Platten.

I’m not quite sure, because Christine mentions Rose Leaf “Oil”, but could it possibly have been Rose Leaf “Absolute”? Whilst I know no reason why an oil could not be steam-distilled from the leaves I have never seen it offered.  The absolute, on the other hand, does pop up from time to time.

When creating a rose perfume or rose base, the perfumer is often very interested in notes that will give him the reproduction of the leaves, the fragrance of the foliage which forms such an imporatant part of the rose gamut: the bouquet of roses is not complete without it.

A good true-to-nature product is Rose Leaf Absolute. It is prepared from a volatile solvent extracted concrete.  The concrete is produced by extraction of the leaves of Rosa centifolia L. in the south of France. Various solvents have been used and experimentally tried, but it seems that chlorinated hydrocarbons are the most suitable solvents for the extraction of the almost fresh leaves.  The absolute is obtained by the conventional alcohol washing of the concrete.

Rose Leaf Absolute is a semi-liquid mass of dark green colour and intensely “green-leafy”, but also sweet, somewhat woody odour, truly reminiscent of the freshly crushed rose leaves. The absolute is often “bouquetted” with trace amounts of rose de mai absolute, rhodinol, etc. This is merely a “selling note” which has little or no effect in the perfume where the leaf absolute is incorporated. If it were not such a scarce and irregularly produced material, it would undoubtedly get the interest of all perfumers who work with high-class perfumes.

Ten years ago, products extracted from Rosa centifolia were freely available but, following a few harsh years, they have gradually disappeared: we haven’t been able to obtain rose de mai absolute for several years. Nonetheless, I shall check if anything can be done with leaves of   Rosa damascena Mill. - I’m sure that the boys in Kannauj might have an idea or two.

Give an oil a filthy smell, and.....          
Recently, my attention was drawn to the following message posted in a Newsgroup on the Web......

Agree on Neem, daughter has psoriasis and Neem aggravates it.  I have used EP (Evening Primrose Oil) to good effect, but not Neem - it smells foul and I’m not convinced it might not make things worse.

I would agree thoroughly about the smell of Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.) but, believe it or not, several relish it!  Nevertheless, traditionally, in India, for skin diseases, the oil has always been considered a drug of choice and is often used with that of karanj oil (Pongamia pinnata), another oil with a reputation for skin treatment.  It is applied on pustules, hard abcesses, obstinate types of wounds, leprotic lesions, ringworm, eczema and itch.  It is particularly recommended for hair care problems such as psoriasis and dandruff, for killing lice and for relief of itching.

The effect of nimbidin, the bitter principle of Neem, was studied by Rajasekharan et al. in 1980 [Effect of nimbidin in psoriasis - a case report. Journal of Research in Ayurveda and Siddha, 1, 52-58]. Nat et al. (1991) in their review article after studying the literature, which is quite extensive, concluded that the immunostimulating property of Neem may possibly be the reason for the recovery of patients with skin diseases [Ethnopharmacognostical survey of Azadirachta indica.  Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 35, 1-24].
 
Although I have no personal experience myself, I have received several reports from others confirming the efficacy of Neem in the treatment of psoriasis.  In India, to mask the smell, and some research suggests that it increases potency, it is often blended with Sandalwood or Himalayan Cedarwood (Cedrus deodora G. Don. f.).

A rare surprise!
For what seems several years, one most persistent, but extremely charming, lady has gently urged me to find for her some Ledum groenlandicum, because it is highly commended by Messieurs Franchomme and Pénoël for liver and kidney problems.

Better known to me as Labrador Tea, the leaves of Ledum latifolium (JACQ.) were used by Native Americans to make a tea rich in Vitamin C.  The tea was also used to treat stomach and kidney complaints. It was exported to England in the 1800s by Hudson Bay Company. The Bay employees used it as a tonic and it sometimes appeared on the menu at fancy dinner parties, in the early years of the Red River settlement.
      
This evergreen shrub grows to a height of 4 to 5 feet. It will grow up straight in the southern latitudes of the tundra, but in the colder northern latitudes it will creep over the ground like a carpet.  It has irregular, woolly branches.  The leaves are alternate, entire, elliptical or oblong, 1 to 2 inches long, the upper side smooth and woolly underneath, with the edges rolled back. The large, white, five-petalled flowers grow in flattened terminal clusters, opening in June and July.  The plant grows in wet meadows, bogs, and forest areas of Greenland, Labrador, Nova Scotia and Hudson’s Bay.  Bees are much attracted by the flowers, but the leaves, put among clothes, will deter moths and, placed among grain, will keep away mice.

Anyhow, last week, from Canada, arrived at last some pale yellow oil steam-distilled from the inflorescences of this versatile plant.  Organically certified, it should satisfy several. Get out your L’aromatherapie exactement now!

In the same parcel, much to my delighted surprise, was also a small quantity of long-awaited Myrica gale, or Bog Myrtle, the ultimate Highland midge repellent so I’m told!  However, the quantity is small, and demand will be strong, and so be quick!

Finally.....
For vitalists and therapists alike, we shall build throughout the year a small range of selected ORGANIC OILS of impeccable provenance, which will be distinguished by discrete packaging and labelling. Watch out for them!

 

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