Essential Oil 101 Continued Part 2

"Over two thousand years ago, the Greek physician Theophrastus wrote a study of scent and its healing effects entitled Concerning Odors. Inthis, he laid the early groundwork for some of our current understanding of aromatherapy. He describes the effects of different flower essences and noted that aromatic plant poultice applied to a leg could permeate the skin and enter the circulatory system.
In Arabia, the technique of distillation was perfected centuries ago. This method of extracting plant essences by steaming is still the most useful in terms of preserrving a plant's fragrance and healing properties. During the eleventh century A.D., Persian chemists distilled highly exotic and sophisticated essences, including the famous attar of roses. Crusaders learned these skills and brought them back to Europe.
For the past few centuries, the world's essential oil industry has been centered in Grasse, in southern France. With sixteenth-century fashion for scented gloves,local glovers were licensed to scent their own leather and sell perfumes, and their use of lavender oil appears to have rendered them immune to an outbreak of cholera.
Today essentail oils have an enormous range of uses, in food, cosmetics and medicines. Most of the research is into their remarkable healing potential."
from the book The Complete Book of Herbs, A practical guide to growing & using herbs. By Lesley Bremess DK Books.1988
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