DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF FLOWERING SHRUBS. 465 
“This Queen of the garden loses not its diadem in the 
perfuming world. The oil of roses, or, as it is commonly 
called, the otto or attar of roses, is abstracted by various 
processes from the Cabbage Rose in Turkey, Persia and 
India; the finest is imported from Ghazepore, in the latter 
country. For obtaining it, the procurers at each place 
have their own mode of operation; the best method, how- 
ever, is to stratify the flowers with a seed containing a 
fat-oil; they will absorb the essential oil of roses, and 
swell a good deal if the flowers are changed repeatedly. 
They are then pressed, and the product allowed to stand 
for a time; the otto rises to the surface, and is finally puri- 
fied by distillation. Pure otto of roses, from its cloying 
sweetness, has not many admirers; it is, moreover, likely 
to produce headache and vertigo in this state; when di- 
luted, however, there is nothing to equal it in odor, espe- 
cially if mixed in soap, to form rose soap, or in the pure 
spirit form, ‘ sprit de Rose. The former preparation 
not allowing the perfume to evaporate very fast, we are 
not so readily surfeited with the smell as in the latter. 
The finest preparation of Rose as an odor, is made at 
Grasse, in France; here the flower is not treated for the 
otto, but simply by maceration in fat, as mentioned with 
other flowers. 
“The Rose Pomade, thus made, if digested in alcohol, 
yields Esprit de Rose of the first order, very superior to 
that which is made by the addition of otto to spirit. It is 
difficult to account for this difference, but it is sufficiently 
characteristic to form a distinct odor. It is never sold by 
the perfumer ; he reserves this to form part of his recher- 
che bouquets. Roses are cultivated to a large extent in 
England, near Mitcham, in Surrey, for perfumers’ use, to 
make rose-water; the odor of the English flower is not 
strong enough to use for any other purpose. Though the 
dried rose-leaves are used for scent-bags, they retain but 
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