42 PERFUMES OF THE ROSE. 



drachm and a half. Bishop Heber states that in India, at Gha- 

 zepoor, two hundred thousand well grown roses are required to 

 produce one rupee's (165 grains) weight of attar. The calyx is 

 sometimes used with the petal, but as the oil of that contains 

 little or no perfume, although it may increase the quantity of 

 attar, it must sensibly weaken its properties. 



The color of attar is generally green, sometimes lemon or rose 

 color, and occasionally brownish. These differences in color are 

 owing to the various processes of manufacture, and the different 

 periods at which the roses are picked. The attar is prepared in 

 Barbary, Syria, Arabia, Persia, India, in the island of Scio, at 

 Fayoum in Egypt, at Tunis, and many other places in the East. 

 That made in Syria and Barbary is considered veiy inferior ; 

 while the best is made in Chyraz, Kerman, and Cashmere. In 

 some parts of France and Italy, it is also prepared, but in com- 

 paratively small quantities. 



The attar is very costly, although not so dear as formerly. 

 The French traveler Tavernier. who visited Ispahan about the 

 year 1666, stated that the price of attar at Chyraz rose and fell 

 every year, on account of the unequal produce of flowers; and 

 that an ounce of that article sold at one period for ten tomans 

 (about 92 dollars). 



At the time another Frenchman, Chardin, traveled in Persia, 

 some years after Tavernier, the attar was sometimes much 

 higher. He states that forty pounds of rose-water were required 

 to produce half a drachm of attar, an ounce of which some- 

 times sold in India for 200 ecus. Langles states that in India, 

 half an ounce of attar is worth about forty dollars. Bishop 

 Heber also speaks of its enormous price at Ghazepoor, where 

 the variation in price is also very great, being, according to 

 Langles, sometimes as low as eight dollars an ounce. 



At one time, soon after its discovery, it was valued at about 

 five times its weight in gold. Until quite recently it was worth 

 its weight in gold, but now sells in Paris for about one quarter 

 that value. 



Attar is rarely found pure in commerce ; it is always more or 



