dynamic interaction with the findings of chemistry.5
Throughout the Renaissance period, aromatic materials filled the pharmacopoeias which for many centuries remained the main protection against epidemics. Over the next few centuries the medicinal properties and applications of increasing numbers of new essential oils were analysed and recorded by the pharmacists. The list included both well-established aromatics such as cedar, cinnamon, frankincense, juniper, rose, rosemary, lavender and sage, but also essences like artemisia, cajeput, chervil, orange flower, valerian and pine.
The perfumery and distillation industries attracted illustrious names of the day and in the northern countries of Europe, especially at Grassein France, flourishing commercial enterprises sprang up. By the end of the seventeenth century, the profession of perfumery broke away from the allied fields, and a distinction was made between perfumes and the aromatics that had become the domain of the apothecary.
Alchemy gave way to technical chemistry, and with it went the interest in the inter-relatedness of matter and spirit, and the interdependence of medicine and psychology. There developed the idea of combating speculation with logic and deductive reason. With the scientific revolution of the early nineteenth century, chemists were able to identify for the first time the various constituents of the oils, and give them specific names such as ‘geraniol’, ‘citronellol’ and ‘cineol’. In the Yearbook of Pharmacy and Transactions of the British Pharmaceutical Conference in 1907, we find for example:
A pilea of undetermined botanical species has yielded a white essential oil with an odour of turpentine … A small amount of pinene was detected but its other constituents have not yet been identified. This oil is of interest as being the first instance of an essential oil derived from the family Uricaceae.6
It is ironic that this enthusiastic research laid the ground for the development of the oils’ synthetic counterparts, and the growth of the modern drug industry. Herbal medicine and aromatic remedies lost their credibility as methods of treatment went out of the hands of the individual and into those of professionals. By the middle of the twentieth century, the role of essential oils had been reduced almost entirely to their employment in perfumes, cosmetics and foodstuffs.
The term ‘aromatherapy’ was first coined in 1928 by Gattefossé, a French chemist working in his family’s perfumier business. He became fascinated with the therapeutic possibilities of the oils after discovering by accident that lavender was able to rapidly heal a severe burn on his hand and help prevent scarring. He also found that many of the essential oils were more effective in their totality than their synthetic substitutes or their isolated active ingredients. As early as 1904 Cuthbert Hall had shown that the antiseptic power of eucalyptus oil in its natural form was stronger than its isolated main active constituent, ‘eucalyptol’ or ‘cineol’.
Another French doctor and scientist, Dr Jean Valnet, used essential oils as part of his programme by which he was able to successfully treat specific medical and psychiatric disorders, the results of which were published in 1964 as Aromatherapie.
The work of Valnet was studied by Madame Marguerite Maury who applied his research to her beauty therapy, in which she aimed to revitalize her clients by creating a ‘strictly personal aromatic complex which she adapted to the subject’s temperament and particular health problems. Hence, going far beyond any simple aesthetic objective, perfumed essences when correctly selected, represent many medicinal agents.’7
In some respects, the word ‘aromatherapy’ can be misleading because it suggests that it is a form of healing which works exclusively through our sense of smell, and on the emotions. This is not the case for, apart from its scent, each essential oil has an individual combination of constituents which interacts with the body’s chemistry in a direct manner, which then in turn affects certain organs or systems as a whole. For example, when the oils are used externally in the form of a massage treatment, they are easily absorbed via the skin and transported throughout the body. This can be demonstrated by rubbing a clove of garlic on the soles of the feet; the volatile oil content will be taken into the blood and the odour will appear on the breath a little while later. It is interesting to note that different essential oils are absorbed through the skin at varying rates, for example:
Turpentine: 20 mins
Eucalyptus and thyme: 20–40 mins
Anise, bergamot and lemon: 40–60 mins
Citronella, pine, lavender and geranium: 60–80 mins
Coriander, rue and peppermint: 100–120 mins
It is therefore important to recognize that essential oils have three distinct modes of action with regard to how they inter-relate with the human body: pharmacological, physiological and psychological. The pharmacological effect is concerned with the chemical changes which take place when an essential oil enters the bloodstream and reacts with the hormones and enzymes etc; the physiological mode is concerned with the way in which an essential oil affects the systems of the body, whether they are sedated or stimulated, etc; the psychological effect takes place when an essence is inhaled, and an individual responds to its odour. With relation to the first two points, aromatherapy has a great deal in common with the tradition of medical herbalism or phytotherapy – in other words, it is not simply the aroma which is important but also the chemical interaction between the oils and the body, and the physical changes which are brought about.
The practice of aromatherapy could be seen as part of the larger field of herbal medicine, since the essential oil is only one of many ways in which a plant can be prepared as a remedy. Since all essential oils are derived directly from plants, it can be valuable to see them within a botanical context rather than as isolated products. In some ways the use of aromatic oils for therapeutic purposes benefits from being placed within a herbal context not only because it gives us further insight into their characteristics, but because the two forms of therapy are not synonymous, but complementary.
Growing and storing herbs: the woman is scenting the linen chest; from Das Kerfiterbuch oder Herbarius, 1534
Although most plants which yield essential oils are also used in medical herbalism, it is important to distinguish the therapeutic qualities of a particular oil from those of the herb taken as a whole or prepared in another manner. German chamomile, for example, is used extensively in the form of a herbal preparation such as an infusion, tincture or decoction, apart from being utilized for its volatile oil. Chamazulene, a major constituent of the oil, helps to account for the herb’s age-old reputation as a general relaxant and soothing skin care remedy, due to its pain-relieving, antispasmodic, wound-healing and anti-inflammatory activities. For the treatment of nervous conditions, insomnia and dermal irritation or disease, the essential oil is both useful and effective. But although the aromatic principle of the plant plays a central role in its overall character, the herb also contains a bitter component (anthemic
