. 264 ROSACEA. 



times, Poller^ has shown that rose oil is prepared in India by simple 

 distillation of the flowers with water. But this Indian oil has never 

 heen imported into Europe as an article of trade. 



As, already stated, the supplies at present come from European 

 Turkey ; but at what period the cultivation of the rose and manufacture 

 of its oil were then introduced, is a question on which we are quite in 

 the dark. There is no mention of attar in the account given by Savary^ 

 in 1750 of the trade of Constantinople and Smyrna, but in the &st 

 years of the present century some rose oil was obtained in the Island of 

 Chios as well as in Persia.^ 



In English commerce, attar of rose was scarcely known until the 

 commencement of the present century. It was first included in the 



British 

 In 181 



ounce 



1828, 2s. per ounce. In 1832 it was lowered to Is. H. per lb., in 1842 

 to Is. and in 1860 it was altogether removed.* 



On searching a file of the London Price Current, the first mention 

 of "Otto of Rose" is in 1813, from which year it is regularly quoted. 

 The price (in bond) from 1813 to 1815, varied from £3 to £5 5s. per 

 ounce. The earliest notice of an importation is under date 1-8 July, 

 1813, when duty was paid on 232 ounces, shipped from Smyrna. 



Production— The chief locality for attar of rose, and that by wb'cli 

 European commerce is almost exclusively supplied, is a small tract of 

 country on the southern side of the Balkan mountains, the " Tekne " of 

 Kazanlik or Kisanlik, an undulated plain famous for its beauty a^ ' 

 picturesquely sketched by Kanitz" and many other travellers. The 

 pnncipal seat of the trade is the town of Kizanlik, in the valley of the 

 Tunja. The other important districts are those of Philippoph, l^ski 

 Zaghra, Yeni Zaghra, Tchirpan, Giopca, Karadsuh-Dagh, Kojun-Tepe, 



were estimated in 18.59 to include 140 villages, having 2,500 stilk . 

 The rose is cultivated by peasants in gardens and open fields, in 

 which It is planted in rows as hedges, 3 to 4 feet high. The best 

 localities are those occupying southern or south-eastern slopes. 1 

 tations in hicfh Tnmin+Q;TiA.no ^'. i-,-. ^ i-x r.^ r. ^lu^ ^,Ac^^ Ipss. and 



plan- 

 the 



quality that easily congeals. The flowers attain 

 May 



m 



,nted for 



immediate use are spread out in cellars, but are always used tor 

 distillmg the same day. The apparatus is a copper still of the smipies 



through a tub fed by a stream of water. The largest establishnient, 

 J^abrika," at Kizanlik has 14 such stills. The charge for a stiu ^^ 

 ^0 to 50 lb. of roses, from which the calyces are not removed. ^ 

 iirst_ runnings are returned to the still; the second portion, wlnc^Y 

 received m glass flasks, is kept at a temperature not lower than 1^ ^• 



2 jflff P^'^^r-ches, I (1788) 332. r. Banau-Bulgarlen, n. (^^77) 103-1^^ 



3 mJ:X "^"^'r''^ ^^- ^48. A figure of a still is given, p. I '-^- ^. J^^s 

 ^f. ,- 7p' ^"^T ^^""" i'^r».pire Othoman, map of the Tekne of Ki^anhk and env u 



'• Infc^fmSo^S- '?\ "• '^'^''^ 367. wilf be found in Zeitschri/tjlo^ 0^ 



bv Mr sS^ln .f K'^c?>.*^^°^°^"°^'^**«'^l '<^h^ Sur Erclhunde zu Berlin, ». I 



