AN INSECT REPELLENT
FROM JULIETTE de BAIRACLI LEVI

(from Juliette de Bairacli Levy's Traveler's Joy)

Fresh or dried herbs can be used. Wormwood two handfuls, Rue one handful, Rosemary a half handful. If the herbs are very dry, less can be used. Pound up the herbs to near powder form, after first finely cutting with scissors. A mortar and pestle is the best method for pounding herbs finely. Put herbs into a wide- mouth quart jar. Then fill, almost to the top, with a thin oil such as sunflower, safflower or corn. Add one tablespoon natural vinegar (to break down the cellulose of the herbs). Do not use olive oil as it is too heavy.

Close the jar tightly and place in sunlight for sun infusion. Preferably the jar should stand on a substance which heats, such as stone, or buried in sand. Never strain the oil: the herbs in the jar will sink to the bottom and when the oil is ready for use, the clear oil can be poured off from the herb residue. Shake well morning and night. Maturity usually takes about one month ln temperate climates; in hot climates where the oil heats up very strongly, less time is required.

If hot sunlight is not available, then fire heat must be used, and heated in covered cans (double boiler works well). Heat slowly for approximately an hour. Shake well. Repeat the process daily for one week, by which time the oil should be ready for bottling.

The test for readiness of the repellent is its bitterness: this should be intense. To make a double or triple strength oil against the very vicious types of mosquitoes and other biting pests, the strained oil should be reinfused by adding more of the finely cut herbs, and a new infusing of the herbs made two or three times, thus increasing the strength of the oil many times.

The matured oil requires two further additions to enable it to become a truly excellent repellent. Into each 3.5 ounces is added half a teaspoon of spirit of oil of eucalyptus and one teaspoon of castor oil. The latter makes the repellent heavier and prevents speedy evaporation from the skin.

This herbal remedy acts entirely on the principle of deep skin penetration and intense bitterness. No biting insect wants to taste such unpleasant bitterness. It is deeply cleansing and so highly tonic that many women use it as a facial treatment! The method of application is important. First shake the bottle well. Then moisten a piece of cotton wool (hygienic cotton) and then pour some oil on to this. Do not use the cotton dry; it would become too greasy and also would absorb too much of the oil, and would not spread the oil lightly as does the dampened cotton. Renew application after five hours, as the oil will be absorbed.