One has known how to use medicinal and aromatic plants since time immemorial in all civilisations. Ancient Egypt mastered the manufacture of balsams, aromatic oils for body care, ceremonies and embalming of the dead. In India as well, with the tradition of the "Ayurvedic Medicine"- the Vedas are sacred texts of Hinduism. The Greeks and the Romans were great lovers of perfumes, ointments and aromatic bath products. Hippocrates recommended the curative virtues of Essential Oils. The Arab world has particularly contributed to the improvement of distillation. Towards the year 1000, Ibn Sina known as «Avicenna», a learned doctor and philosopher, invented the coil and still, and developed the use of Essential Oils (book entitled "The Canon of Medicine"). |
