268 ROSACE^.. 



and so do most varieties of paraffin. The microscopic crystals of the 

 latter are somewhat similar to those of rose stearoptene, yet they may 

 be distinguished by an attentive comparative examination. 



FRUCTUS ROSiE CANINiE. 



Cynosbata ; Fruit of the Dog-rose, Hijys ; F. Fruits de Cynorrhodon ; 



G. Hagebutten. 



Botanical Origin — Rosa canina L., a bush often 10 to 12 feet high, 

 found in hedges and thickets throughout Europe except Lapland and 

 Finland, and reaching the Canary Islands, Northern Africa, Persia and 

 Siberia ; universally dispersed throughout the British Islands.^ 



History — The fruits of the wild rose, including other species besides 

 R. canina L., have a scanty, orange, acid, edible pulp, on account of 

 which they were collected in ancient times when garden fruits were 

 few and scarce. Galen ^ mentions them as gathered by country people 

 in his day, as they still are in Europe. Gerarde in the 16th century 

 remarks that the fruit when ripe — " maketh most plcEisant meats and 

 banqueting dishes, as tarts and such like." Though the pulp of hips 

 preserved with sugar which is here alluded to, is no longer brought to 

 table, at least in this country,^ it retains a place in pharmacy as a 

 useful ingredient of pill-masses and electuaries. 



Description — The fruit of a rose consists of the bottle-shaped 

 calyx, become dilated and succulent by growth, and sometimes crowned 

 with 5 leafy segments, enclosing numerous dry carpels or achenes, con- 

 taining each one exalbuminous seed. The fruit of R. canina called a hip, 

 is ovoid, about | of an inch long, with a smooth, red, shining surface. 

 It is of a dense, fleshy texture, becoming on maturity, especially after 

 frost, soft and pulpy, the pulp within the shining skin being of an 

 orange colour, and of an agreeable sweetish subacid taste. The large 

 interior cavity contains numerous hard achenes, which, as well as the 

 walls of the former, are covered with strong short hairs. 



For medicinal use, the only part required is the soft orange pulp, 

 which is separated by rubbing it through a hair sieve. 



Microscopic Structure — The epidermis of the fruit is made up of 

 tabular cells containing red granules, which are much more abun- 

 dant in the pulp. The latter, as usual in many ripe fruits, consists of 

 isolated cells no longer forming a coherent tissue. Besides these cells, 

 there occur small fibro- vascular bundles. Some of the cells enclose 

 tufted crystals or oxalate of calcium ; most of them however are loaded 

 with red granules, either globular .or somewhat elongated. They 

 assume a bluish hue on addition of perchloride of iron, and are turned 

 blackish by iodine. The later colouration reminds one of that assumed 

 by starch granules under similar circumstances ; yet on addition of a 

 very dilute solution of iodine, the granules always exhibit a blackish, 



^ Baker, Journ. of Linn. Soc. Bot. xi. Jjindhand R-cinnamomeah. — Maximowicz, 



(1869) 226, Primitice Florm Amurensis, 1859. 100. 453. 



^ De AUmentorum/acuUatibus, ii. c. 14. ^ In Switzerland and Alsace a very 



In the Amur country a much larger and agreeable confiture of hips is still in use. 

 better fruit is afforded by B, acicularls 



