16 | XX | THE HOUSE OF PERNOD AND SONS | XX | XX |
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Let us study each raw material used in this process. |
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Wormwood - "the wormwood or bitter armoise", we |
read in the work of Dr. Lehameau entitled Plants, Remedies |
and Diseases, Ògrows in almost all countries; the dry, arid, |
rocky terrain, the higher elevations, mountainous and cold, |
are the places where it is normally found. A herbaceous |
and vigorous plant, wormwood has a rather strong stem, |
erect, hard, stiff, and grooved, of ashy gray, filled with white |
marrow, reaching 70 to 80 centimeters and even a meter |
in height. (In 1894 a grand wormwood plant harvested on |
the Pernod factory property measured 1.8 meters in |
height.) The alternate leaves, heavily indented, are rather |
large, gray-green and silvery on top, whiter and silkier |
underneath. The flowers are numerous, resembling small |
globes, yellow, and arranged in small bunches; the root is |
woody, vibrant, and twirling. |
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The smell of wormwood is very strong and is not lost in |
drying, especially when drying is done carefully; its flavor is |
excessively bitter and penetrating. |
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The tonic virtues, stimulative, vermifugal and diuretic, of |
wormwood have been known for a very long time and have |
rendered it of great use in medicine and the veterinary arts. |
It can perhaps be classified as one of our most valuable |
indigenous plants, capable in many cases of replacing |
quinine. |
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To supplement this information let us add that the |
(Translated by "Artemis" for your pleasure.) |