228 WILD FLOWEES OE 



vases of them, while full-blown flowers strew every 

 bath ; and in the delicious gardens of Negauristan, 

 the eye and the smell are not only regaled by the 

 most beautiful and fragrant roses, but the ear is 

 enchanted with the warblings of multitudes of night- 

 ingales, whose notes seem to increase in melody and 

 softness with the unfolding of their favourite flowers. 

 According to a recent traveller in Persia, the cele- 

 brated Roses of Shiraz are all single - - R. Damascena., 

 and H. moscJiata, var. arborea. 



FATHEE CATEON, in his "History of the Mogul 

 Empire" thus accounts for the origin of the cele- 

 brated Otto or Attar of B-oses, now so esteemed as an 

 indispensable appendage to a lady's boudoir. It ap- 

 pears that the PEINCESS NOTJEMAHAL, in the true 

 style of eastern voluptuousness, once filled an entire 

 canal with rose-water, upon which she made frequent 

 sailing excursions in company with the GEEAT MOGUL. 

 The heat of the sun causing the disengagement of the 

 essential oil from the rose-water, it was observed 

 floating upon the surface, and thus was made the dis- 

 covery of the essence of roses. Near Damascus is the 

 famous plain of roses, solely dedicated to the making 

 of the Attar or Uttr, which, for some miles, is thickly 

 planted with rose trees, of which great care is taken. 

 This " TJttr" is the most remarkable of all the prepa- 

 rations from the flower, and has the consistence of 

 butter, becoming liquid only in the very hottest wea- 

 ther. It is made almost in the way indicated by its 

 accidental discovery, only that the rose-petals are put 

 into a wooden vessel with pure water, first exposed to 

 a powerful heat which forces the oil to the surface, 

 when it is gathered, and then congealed by cold : but 



