1280 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
are, also,a variety with the leaves variegated with gold colour, 
and a silvery-leaved variety; but these are often rather 
weaker, and more dwarf, than the species. 
The wild rosemary is a native of the south of France, 
Spain, Italy, the Levant, Barbary, &c., on rocks and rocky 
hills ; and, in some places, it is so abundant, that in spring, 
when it is in flower, the air is perfumed with its odour to 
a considerable distance. On this account, and also from the 
powerful attraction which it forms to bees, at a season when 
there are few other plants in flower, it has long been partially 
cultivated by the inhabitants of those countries of which 
it is a native. In Narbonne and Mahon, the rosemary is 
so abundant, partly from being indigenous, but principally 
from its being frequently used there to form hedges to gar- 
dens, that it communicates its flavour to the honey, which 
is considered the finest in France. The rosemary is men- 
tioned, in many of the old Continental songs of the trouba- 
dours, as emblematic of that constancy and devotion to the 
fair sex, which was one of the characteristics of the days of 
chivalry. Garlands and chaplets were formed of myrtle, - 
laurel, and rosemary, and put on the heads of the principal ” 
persons in fétes. It was formerly held in high esteem as a 
comforter of the brain, and a strengthener to the memory ; 
and, on the latter account, is considered as the emblem of 
fidelity in lovers. Formerly, it was worn at weddings, and also at funerals ; 
and it is still grown for that purpose in many parts of the Continent. Many 
allusions have been made to both customs by poets, and also to its being 
the symbol of remembrance. Shakspeare makes Ophelia say, “ There’s 
rosemary for you: that’s for remembrance;” and in the notes to Stevens’s 
edition of Shakspeare are many references to passages referring to this 
plant in the works of the old poets. It is said to be found wild in the Great 
Desert; and Meore, in allusion to this, and its use for funerals, says,— 
** The humble rosemary, 
Whose sweets so thanklessly are shed 
To scent the desert and the dead,” 
The points of the shoots area most powerful bitter, and they are aromatic; 
they, also, when distilled with water, yield a thin, light, pale, essential oil, at 
the rate of 8 oz. of oil to 100 lb. of the herb in a green state. The oil of the 
fiowers (which ought always to be gathered with their calyxes) is somewhat 
more volatile than that of the leaves, and is readily extracted with spirits of 
wine. This oil contains a considerable quantity of camphor. The oil of 
rosemary was in great use among the Greeks and Romans, and still forms an 
article of the materia medica. Hungary water (so called from being first used — 
by the Queen of Hungary) is made with rosemary, and is considered excellent 
for keeping the hair in curl. If constantly used, however, the hair will lose 
its colour, and become wiry. The smell of the plant is fragrant and aromatic ; 
and the taste pungent and bitter. Its properties are effectually extracted by 
rectified spirit, and partly, also, by water. In France, besides its use by the 
apothecaries and perfumers, a conserve, a honey, and a liqueur, are made from 
it by the confectioners. Though the rosemary is indigenous to the south 
of France, it will scarcely live through the winter, in the open air, in the 
neighbourhood of Paris; and the varieties, except the broad leaved one, are 
kept there in the conservatory. In some parts of Germany, especially in the 
Catholic countries (at Nuremburg, for example), rosemary is cultivated in. 
quantities, in pots, by the commercial gardeners, for the purpose of selling sprigs 
of it when they come into flower, in winter and early in spring, for religious 
purposes. (See Enyc. of Gard., edit. 1835, § 545.) Like almost all the plants 
of this chapter, it is easily propagated by cuttings, and it also ripens seeds in 
abundance in fine seasons. It is said always to thrive best near thé sea; 
