"SWEET SUMMER BUDS" 153 



with an eye of white upon them. The flowers are 

 of a fine deep blush color, as all know, with some 

 pale yellow threads in the middle, and are not so 

 thick and double as the White, not being blown with 

 so large and great leaves as the Red, but of the 

 most excellent sweet pleasant scent, far surpassing 

 all other Roses or Flowers, being neither heady, nor 

 too strong, nor stuffing or unpleasant sweet, as many 

 other flowers. 



"The Rose is of exceeding great use with us, for 

 the Damask Rose (besides the superexcellent sweet 

 water it yieldeth, being distilled, or the perfume of 

 its leaves, being dried, serving to fill sweet bags) 

 serveth to cause solubleness of the body, made into 

 a syrup, or preserved with sugar, moist or candied." 

 The name is obviously from Damascus. 



CANKER (Rosa canina). This is the wild dog- 

 rose common to many countries. The name dog- 

 rose was given to it by the Romans, because the root 

 was said to cure the bite of a mad dog. Pliny says 

 the remedy was discovered in a dream by the mother 

 of a soldier who had been bitten by a mad dog. Don 

 Juan's remark in "Much Ado About Nothing." * 



I had rather be a canker in the hedge 

 Than a rose in his garden, 



*Act I, Scene III. 



