260 ROSAOEiE. 



also for the conserve, syrup and honey of roses made from them, — com- 

 positions which were regarded in the light of valuable medicines. ^ 



It is recorded that when, in A.D. 1310, Philippe de Marigny, arch- 

 bishop of Sens, made a solemn entry into Proving, he was presented by 

 the notables of the town with wine, spices, and Conserve of Roses ; and 

 presents of dried roses and of the conserve were not considered beneath 

 the notice of Catherine de Medicis, and of Henry IV.^ 



We find that Charles Estienne, in 1536, mentions both the Rosce 

 purpurece odoratissimce, which he says are called Provinciates, and 

 those known to the druggists as incarnatce, — the latter we presume a 

 pale rose.^ Rosce rubece are named as an ingredient of various com- 

 pound medicines by Valerius Cordus.^ 



Production — The flowers are gathered while in bud and just 

 before expansion, and the petals are cut off" near the base, lea\ang the 

 paler claws attached to the calyx. They are then carefully and rapidly 

 dried by the heat of a stove, and having been gently sifted to remove 

 loose stamens, are ready for sale. In some districts the petals are dried 

 entire, but the drug thus produced is not so nice. 



In England, the Red Rose is cultivated at Mitcham, though now 

 only to the extent of about 10 acres. It is also grown for druggists' 

 use in Oxfordshire and Derbyshire. At Mitcham, it is now called 

 Damask Rose, which is by no means a correct name. The English 

 dried roses command a high price. 



There is a much more extensive cultivation of this rose on the 

 continent at Wassenaar and Noordwijk in Holland ; in the vicinity of 

 Hamburg and Nuremberg in Germany, and in the villages round Paris 

 and Lyons. Roses are still, we believe, grown for medicinal use at 

 Provins, but are no longer held in great esteem. 



There appears to be a considerable production of dried roses in 

 Persia, judging from the fact that in the year 1871-72, 1163 cwt. were 

 exported from the Persian Gulf to Bombay.® 



Description — The petals adhere together loosely in the form of 

 little cones, or are more or less crumpled and separate. When well 

 preserved, they are crisp and dry, with a velvety surface of an intense 

 purplish crimson, a delicious rosy odour, and a mildly astringent taste. 

 The white basal portion of the petals should be nearly absent. For 

 making the confection, the petals are required in a fresh state. 



Chemical Composition — Red rose petals impart to ether, without 

 losing their colour, a soft yellow substance, which is a mixture of a solid 

 fat and QuerciU^n. Filhol has shown (1864) that it is the latter body, 

 and not tannic acid, of which the petals contain but a trace, that pro- 

 duces the dark greenish precipitate with ferric salts. The same chemist 

 found in the petals 20 per cent. (?) of glucose which, together with 

 colouring matter and gallic acid, is extracted by alcohol after exhaustion 



^ Pomet, Hist, des Drogues, 1694, part i. ' Stephanus (Carolus), De re hortens 



174-177, speaks of the roses of Provins Ubelltis, Paris, 1536. 29 (in Brit. Mus.). 



being "hautes en couleur, o'est k dire d'un * Dispensatorium, 1548. 39. 52. 



rouge noir, velout^ . . . tr^s astringentes. " ^ Statement of tlie Trade and Navigation 



^ Assier, L^gendes, curiositis et traditions of the Presidency of Bombay for 1871-72, 



de la Champagne et de la Brie, Paris, 1860. pt. ii. 43. 

 191. 



