The storing of such tobacco for a lengthened period matures and deprives it of harshness, and the same result may be artificially hastened by macerating the leaves in water acidulated with hydrochloric acid, and washing them out with pure water.
This essential oil, as an article of commerce, is prepared by roughly pounding the bark, macerating it in sea-water, and then quickly distilling the whole.
Less tender plants can be treated by the analogous method of maceration, which consists in extracting the odoriferous substances by macerating the flowers in hot oil or molten fat.