'268 KOSACE^. 



and so do most varieties of paraffin. The microscopic crystals of the 

 latter are somewhat similar to those of rose stearoptene, yet they may 

 be distinguished by an attentive comparative examination. 



FRUCTUS ROS^ CANIN-ffi. 



r 



Cynoshata ; Fruit of the Bog-rose, Hips ; F. Fruits de Cynorrhoihn ; 



G. Hagebutten. 



Botanical Origin— jRosa canina L., a bush often 10 to 12 feet high, 

 found in hedges and thickets throughout Europe except Lapland and 

 Finland, and reaching the Canary Islands, Northern Africa, Persia and 

 Siberia ; universally dispersed throughout the British Islands/ 



History— The fruits of the wild rose, including other species besides 

 R. canina L., have a scanty, orange, acid, edible pulp, on account of 

 which they were collected in ancient times when garden fruits were 

 few and scarce. Galen ^ mentions them as gathered by country people 

 in his day, as they still are in Europe. Gerarde in the 1 6th century 

 remarks that the fruit when ripe—" maketh most pleasant meats and 

 banqueting dishes, as tarts and such like." Though the pulp of hips 

 preserved with sugar which is here alluded to, is no longer brought to 



as a 



table, at least in this country,^ it retains a place in pharmacy 

 useful ingredient of pill-masses and electuaries. 



Description— The fruit of a rose consists of the bottle-shaped 

 calyx, become dilated and succulent by growth, and sometimes crowned 

 with 5 leafy segments, enclosing numerous dry carpels or achenes, con- 

 taining each one exalbuminous seed. The fruit of R. canina called a n?]', 

 IS ovoid, about | of an inch long, with a smooth, red, shining surtace. 

 It IS of a dense, fleshy texture, becoming on maturity, especially alter 

 frost, soft and pulpy, the pulp within the shining skin being ot an 

 orange colour, and of an agreeable sweetish subacid taste. The large 

 mterior cavity contains numerous hard achenes, which, as well as tne 

 walk of the .former, are covered with strong short hairs. , 



For medicinal use, the only part required is the soft orange p^P 

 which is separated by rubbing it through a hair sieve. 



The epidermis of the fruit is made up o 



tabular cells containing red granules, which are much more aDuu 

 . the pulp. The latter, as usual in many ripe fruits, consists 



isolated cells no longer forming a coherent tissue. Besides these ce ^ . 

 there occur small fibro-vascular bundles. Some of the cells encio ^^ 

 tufted crystals or oxalate of calcium ; most of them however are loao 

 with red granules, either globular or somewhat elongated. ^ \ 

 assume a bluish hue on addition of perchloride of iron, and are tur 

 blackish by iodine. The later colouration reminds one of that assum 



} 



M 



dant 



granules ^ 



very dilute solu tion of iodine, the granules always exhibit a 



Til ir . . Primltim Flor<z Amiiramn, Iboy. • ^.^^ 



Tn ;^! ^/'"^^"«<"-«'« AcwZto<;&M., ii. c. 14. --^ In Switzerland and Alsace a ^^^ 



1.H S f T' '^''i'^1 f '""^^ l^^ger ^°J agreeable confiture of hips is stiU 

 belter fruit is afTorded by R. acictdaris 





