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At the dawn of modern industrial society, AROMATIC MEDICINAL PAPERS were real medicinal remedies in Europe that were used for various infections, and the only type of product available intended to both deodorize and sanitize the air. Field tents, hospitals, boarding-schools, and damp dwellings are all examples of places at risk of an epidemic. For this reason, it was common to purify these environments periodically with the smoke emitted by the smoldering burn of this type of paper, which also gave off an agreeable scent.
Naturally, all Medicinal Papers were handmade, almost exclusively by specialized pharmacists, who possessed special formulas used to prepare the different types of smoking papers: anti-asthma, anti-rheumatics, and antiseptics, etc., for use as specific medical and therapeutic treatments targeting a variety of health problems.
It is likely that of the various medicinal papers sold in Europe from the 16th to mid-20th centuries, only two are still available on the market today. They are almost certainly the last in a long history; they are both of the deodorizing/antiseptic type and have a long tradition behind them: the Italian "Carta d’Eritrea" and the French "Papier d'Arménie".
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