RUBIA 



CORDIFOLIA 



ATTAR OF ROSES 



Damask R. damascena, Mill. The Damask, Bussora, or Persian Rose, gulah, sudburg, 



Rose. irojdppu, etc. Perhaps the commonest Indian garden rose. In India, attar of 



roses is said to have been first discovered by Nur-i-Jehan Begum, in 1612, on the 

 occasion of her marriage with the Emperor Jahangir. In English commerce 



Attar. attar of roses began to be recognised only in the beginning of last century. The 



attar imported by Great Britain is, however, almost entirely produced in Europe, 

 chiefly Bulgaria and Germany. The Indian product is consumed in the country, 



Ghazipur. and is apparently not exported. The chief seat of the industry is at Ghazipur 



on the Ganges, where distilleries have existed for fully two centuries. The 

 following information is abstracted from the account by Jackson (Journ. As. Soc. 

 Seng., 1839, viii., pt. i., 411-4). The gardens where the roses are cultivated are 



nent. let out annually by their owners at about Us. 5 per bigha for the land, and Rs. 25 



per bigha for the bushes, about 1,000 of which go to a bigha. The expense of 

 cultivation amounts to about Rs. 8-8 per bigha, and 1,000 bushes should yield 

 one lakh of roses, which are sold to the distillers at from Rs. 40 to Rs. 70 per 



Season. lakh. The roses flower in March and continue throughout April. In the early 



Distilling of morning they are plucked and carried to the distillers. The distilling apparatus 



Eose-water. consists of a copper or iron boiler with a large body and narrow neck, united by 



a bamboo tube with a long-necked vessel or receiver, called a bhubka. The 

 boiler is let into an earthen furnace, while the receiver is kept in a handi of water, 

 which is changed as it gets hot. The boiler is charged with the roses, over which 

 a sufficient quantity of water is poured and distillation is then proceeded with. 

 The rosewater should always be twice distilled, the water from the first dis- 

 tillation being used to pour over the roses for the second. The distilled rose- 

 water is then taken from the receiver, placed in a glass carboy and exposed to the 



Kipening. sun for several days to become ripe. The mouth of the carboy is then covered with 



cotton, over which is put a coating of moist clay, to prevent the scent from escaping. 



Separation of To procure attar, the distilled rosewater is placed in a large metal basin which 



Attar. is protected by wetted muslin to exclude insects and dust. This vessel is then 



let into the ground, which has been previously moistened with water, and allowed 

 to remain for the night. The cooling causes a little film of attar to form on the 

 surface of the rosewater, and this is removed in the morning and placed in a 

 small phial. The first few days' distillation does not procure such fine attar as 

 is obtained afterwards (see p. 821). 



Adulteration. Much of the rosewater of India is adulterated with water before being sold, 



and indeed the attar can never be obtained pure, since it always contains sandal- 



Sandal-wood. wood oil. Sandal- wood chips are very generally added to the flowers before they are 

 distilled. This was mentioned by Engelbert Kaempfer in connection with Persia 

 so long ago as 1682. Gildemeister and Hoffmann (Volatile Oils, 425, 423-36) 

 state that as far back as 1787 Polier observed in Kashmir that the Indian grass 

 (? Cyniitopogon Schoeiianttitis, p. 461) was added to the roses for distillation. This 

 grass does not, however, appear to be used in India for that purpose. The principal 



Perfumery. utilisation of attar is in perfumery and the manufacture of snuff and soap (rose- 



soap) (Alex. Watt, Art Soap-making, 1901, 149). In India it is largely employed 

 by Natives at weddings and festivals. The best bazar attar is said to be sold for 

 Rs. 10 per tola down to Rs. 2 for the inferior sorts. In the trade statistics, one 

 or both of the above substances must be returned under either Essential Oils 

 or Perfumery, details of the trade in which will be found under these headings. 

 [Cf. Mesua (ed. Marinus), 1562, 54-5 and plates (one of the earliest authors to 

 describe and illustrate the distillation) ; Milburn, Or. Comm., 1813, i., 141 ; ii., 

 237; Bentham, Rev. of Targioni-Tozzetti, Journ. Hort. Soc., 1855, ix., 179; Elliot, 

 2nd. Indust., 1880, 368 ; Sterling, Cult, of Roses, Bot. Oard. Calc., in Journ. 

 Agri.-Hort. Soc. Ind., 1870, ii., 1-24 ; Ghazipur Gaz., 1883, xiii., 82-3 ; Pharma- 

 cog. Ind., i., 574-8; iii., app., 152; Pharm. Soc. Mus. Rept., 1895-1902, 64; 

 Schimmel & Co., Semi- Ann. Repts. ; Woodrow, Oard. in Ind., 1903, 281-99 ; 

 Firminger, Man. Gard. Ind., 1904, 578-604 ; Umney, in Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc., 

 1906, xxxii., 137-40.] 



D.E.P., 



vi., pt. i., 

 570-80. 

 Indian 

 Madder. 



RUBIA, Linn. ; Fl. Br. Ind., iii., 202-4 ; Prain, Beng. Plants, 1903, 

 i., 580 ; RUBIACE^:. A genus of erect, diffuse or climbing herbs, of which 

 the most important economically are the Indian and European Madders. 



R. cordifolia, Linn. The Indian Madder, manjit, manjistd, majethi, manjitti, 

 dandu, kukarphali, madar, shevelli, tamra-valli, man-chetti, etc. A herbaceous 

 creeper, throughout the hilly districts of India, from the North-West Himalaya 



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