1280 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



are, also, a variety with the leaves variegated with gold colour, 

 and ;i 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 pertained 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 fetes. It was formerly held in high esteem as a jsjflrtj 

 comforter of the brain, and a strengthener to the memory ; f.S3^>'f_ # 

 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 Moore, in allusion to this, and its use for funerals, says, 



i " 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 Ib. of the herb in a green state. The oil of the 

 flowers (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 the sea ; 



