ROSACEA. 275 



cumstances, not more than a drachm and a half is obtained from the eighty- 

 pounds of roses. 



The attar, as found in commerce, is seldom pure, being frequently adulte- 

 rated with the oil of sandal-wood, or with an oil procured from a sweet-scented 

 grass, or even with spermaceti. These may all be detected, from the attar 

 being congealed by common cold, which the adulterating additions are not. 

 This oil is obtained from many species of the sweet-scented roses ; it is gene- 

 rally imported from Turkey, though some comes from India. 



Medical Properties. — The petals of the Cabbage-rose are slightly lax- 

 ative, and a syrup is prepared from them, which is administered to children 

 as a laxative, but is seldom used in this country. Rose-water is employed as 

 a lotion, collyrium, &c, and enters into the composition of some ointments; 

 but it is more on account of its pleasant odour than for any medical proper- 

 ties it possesses. Its principal use is as a perfume. 



Several other species of Rose are officinal in Europe ; among which the 

 common Wild Rose, R. canina, is most used. The pulpy part of the fruit 

 of this, is somewhat astringent, and is beaten up with sugar into a confection, 

 which enters into the composition of several electuaries, and was formerly 

 much esteemed in the treatment of dysentery. It is also used as an article of 

 dessert ; and in Germany a sauce is prepared from it, somewhat like that of 

 the tomato. The root was at one time much celebrated in hydrophobia, 

 whence its specific name of canina. The Tartars use the leaves in place of 

 tea, and a spirit is prepared from the flowers by fermentation. 



Section 2. PoTENTiLLiDiE. — Calyx tube herbaceous. Fruit a heap of achenia. 



Rubus. — Linn. 



Calyx concave, or flattish at base, naked, 5-clefl. Petals 5, deciduous. Stamens nu- 

 merous, inserted in the calyx. Achenia numerous, pulpy, aggregated on a conical or 

 cylindrical spongy torus. Styles terminal, or nearly so. 



A very extensive genus, composed of perennial shrubby, or suhruticose 

 plants, with erect or procumbent stems, which are usually prickly and bien- 

 nial. The leaves are pinnately or pedately compound. The flowers are 

 either white or reddish, succeeded by an eatable fruit, which is black, red, or 

 sometimes yellowish, and well known under the names of Blackberry, Dew- 

 berry, Raspberry, &c. It is a very widely dispersed genus of upwards of a 

 hundred species, the greater part of which are found in temperate or cold cli- 

 mates. Several species are officinal, among which two of our native species 

 deserve particular notice. 



1. R. villosus, Alton. — Pubescent, hispid, and prickly. Leaves 3 — 5 foliolate. Fo- 

 lioles ovate, oblong, acuminate, serrate, pubescent. Stems and petioles prickly. Calyx 

 short, acuminate. Racemes loose. Pedicels solitary. 



Aiton, Hort. Rev. ii. 210; Torrey and Gray, Fl. i. 454; Bigelow, Med. 

 Bot. t. 38; Barton, Veg. Mat. Med. ii. 151. 



Common Names. — Blackberry, High Blackberry, &c. 



Description. — The root is horizontal, irregularly tuberous, perennial, woody, of a red- 

 dish-brown colour. The stems are biennial, from three to seven feet high, somewhat 

 shrubby, of a brownish colour, and armed with strong, curved prickles. The smaller 

 branches and new shoots are decumbent, herbaceous, greenish, and are pubescent as well 

 as prickly. The leaves are ternate and quinate, oval, acuminate, finely and sharply ser- 

 I rate, villous on both sides. The petioles are hirsute and prickly. The flowers are white, 

 large, in terminal panicles or racemes, and consist of a 5-petalled corolla and numerous 



