THE ROSE. 



[Various species.) 



The moss-rose that, at fall of dew, 

 Ere eve its duskier curtain drew, 

 Was freshly gathered from its stem, 

 She values as the ruby gem. 



— "The Cottage Girl." 



There are a number of rose species. 

 All are shrubby and vary from small 

 erect to very tall climbing or twining 

 plants. They belong to the rose family 

 (rosaceae) and represent the family 

 type. In the wild state the flower is 

 generally single, its petals (five in num- 

 ber) forming one circle. Numerous yel- 

 low stamens and pistils. Wbody stem, 

 branching, with numerous prickles. 

 Leaves alternate, stalked with elongated 

 pointed stipules and from three to seven 

 oval, oblong, serrate leaflets. Flowers 

 showy, variable in color. Fruit (hip) 

 quite large, red color, bearing numerous 

 hairy hard seeds. 



The rose has been in cultivation for 

 many centuries. The not over-truthful 

 ancient historian and traveler, Herodo- 

 tus, reports a rose having sixty leaves, 

 referring undoubtedly to Rosa centifolia. 

 Theophrastus and Plinius also describe 

 this rose, and also refer to a rose of 

 Syria (Rosa moschata), which was said 

 to have been extensively employed in the 

 preparation of cosmetics and salves. 

 Rose petals have been employed medici- 

 nally since time immemorial. The 

 petals were macerated in oils or fatty 

 oils or in wine. The leaves and petals 

 were also mixed with honey or sugar. 

 Dioscorides mentions an extract oi rose 

 petals and describes the preparation of 

 "rose honey" .and "rose pastilles." Ac- 

 cording to Scribonius Largus (first cen- 

 tury, A. D.), rose cerate was much used 

 to apply to the skin following the use of 

 mustard plasters. Rose water is not 

 mentioned until about the close of the 

 thirteenth century. The Arabians cul- 

 tivated roses on a large scale, for me- 

 dicinal purposes. The Rosa provincialis, 



which was evidently fromi the Orient, 

 w|as very extensively cultivated in 

 France during the middle ages. The 

 rose oil of the ancients was merely fat 

 perfumed with the rose petals, as ex- 

 plained by Dioscorides. 



Rose water was first prepared on a 

 large scale in Persia. In 810-817 the 

 south Persian province Faristan sent an 

 annual tribute of thirty thousand bottles 

 of rose water to Bagdad. From Persia 

 rose water found its way into Arabia 

 and from thence into Europe, first into 

 Spain, then under the Arabian rule. Not 

 only was rose water used as a cosmetic 

 and a medicine, but it was also used in 

 cooking. 



Rose oil obtained from the petals was 

 not known until about 1570. At the be- 

 ginning of the seventeenth century rose 

 oil as well as rose-perfumied oils and 

 fats were introduced into Germany and 

 other European countries. The noted 

 rose oil (otto, attar or ottar of rose) fac- 

 tory at the town of Kazanlik, in the 

 Turkish province Roiimelia, was found- 

 ed in 1600, is still in existence, and pro- 

 duces the finest and most highly-prized 

 rose oil, worth about eight dollars per 

 ounce. The petals yield only about four 

 per cent, of oil, from which it is evident 

 that a large quantity of petals are neces- 

 sary to yield an ounce of oil. The oil 

 is obtained by distilling the fresh pet- 

 als. ' It is a clear, pale yellow, oily liquid. 

 Cold readily solidifies it. Rose oil is 

 also made in England, Germany, United 

 States, India, Asia and other countries. 

 Otto of rose is very frequently adulter- 

 ated with oil of geraniumi, which is pre- 

 pared from a grass of India (Andropo- 

 gon pachnodes). Spermaceti is also 



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