293 



;dges ; the flowers do grow on the tops of the branches, in 

 shape and color like the Damask Rose, but greater and more 

 double, insomuch that the yellow chives in the middle are hard 

 to be seen; of a reasonable good smell, but not full so sweet a* 

 the common Damask Rose ; the fruit is like the other of his 

 kinde." 



ON THE ODORS OF HOSES AND THE MODES OF OBTAINING THEM. 



*' Crop the gay Rose's vermeil bloom, 

 And waft its spoils, a sweet perfume, 

 In incense to the skies." OGILYIE. 



" Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odors made." 



SHAKSPEARE. 



" This Queen of the garden loses not its diadem in the per- 

 fuming world. The oil of roses, or, as it is commonly called, 

 the otto or attar of roses, is abstracted by various processes 

 from the Cabbage Rose in Turkey, Persia and India ; the finest 

 is imported from Ghazepore, in the latter country. For obtain- 

 ing it, the procurers at each place have their own mode of 

 operation ; the best method, however, is to stratify the flowers 

 with a seed containing a fat-oil ; they will absorb the essential 

 oil of roses, and swell a good deal if the flowers are changed 

 repeatedly. They are then pressed, and the product allowed to 

 stand for a time ; the otto rises to the surface, and is finally 

 purified by distillation. Pure otto of roses, from its cloying 

 sweetness, has not many admirers ; it is, moreover, likely to 

 produce headache and vertigo in this state ; when diluted, how- 

 ever, there is nothing to equal it in odor, especially if mixed in 

 soap, to form rose soap, or in the pure spirit form, ' Esprit de 

 Rose.' 1 The former preparation not allowing the perfume to 

 evaporate very fast, we are not so readily surfeited with the 

 smell as in the latter. The finest preparation of Rose as an 

 odor, is made at Grasse, in France ; here the flower is not 

 treated for the otto, but simply by maceration in fat, as men- 

 tioned with other flowers. 



" The Rose Pomade, thus made, if digested in alcohol, yields 

 Esprit de Rose of the first order, very superior to that which is 

 25* 



