CHAP. XL1I. ROSA^CEJE. Ro'SA. 789 



small quantity of spirits of wine. This produces a very fragrant spirit, which, 

 mixed with sugar, makes the liqueur known in France by the name of I'huile 

 de ?'ose; it also forms the groundwork of the liqueur called parfa.it amour. 



Conserve of Roses is prepared by bruising in a mortar the petals with their 

 weight of sugar, till the whole forms a homogeneous mass. In the earlier 

 ages, when, according to Rosembourg, in his History of the Rose (published in 

 1631), the rose was a specific against every disease, this conserve was thought 

 a sovereign remedy for a cold. It was much in use in the time of Gerard, 

 and is still employed in the composition of electuaries, and many other 

 medicines. 



Honey of Roses is made by beating up fresh rose leaves with a small quan- 

 tity of boiling water ; and, after filtering the mass, boiling the pure liquor with 

 honey. This was formerly much in use for ulcers in the mouth, and for sore 

 throats. 



Oil of Roses is obtained by bruising fresh rose petals, mixing them with four 

 times their weight of olive oil, and leaving them in a sand heat for two days. 

 If the red rose de Provins be used, the oil is said to imbibe no odour ; but, if 

 the petals of pale roses be employed, it becomes perfumed. This preparation 

 was celebrated among the ancients. Pliny says that, according to Homer, roses 

 were macerated for their oil in the time of the Trojans. The oil is chiefly 

 used for the hair, and is generally sold in perfumers' shops, both in France 

 and England, under the name of I'huile antique de rose. 



Essence, Attar, Otto, or, as it is sometimes called, Bidter, of Roses, is the 

 most celebrated of all the different preparations from this flower ; and forms 

 an object of commerce on the coast of Barbary, in Syria, in Persia, in India, 

 and in various parts of the East. In England, it is usually called otto of 

 roses, a corruption of the word attar, which, in Arabic, signifies perfume. 

 This essence has the consistence of butter, and only becomes liquid in the 

 very warmest weather. It is preserved in small flasks, and is so powerful, 

 that touching it with the point of a pin will bring away enough to scent a 

 pocket-handkerchief for two or three days. The discovery of the essence of 

 roses dates from the year 1612, and is said to have been made by the mother- 

 in-law of the Great Mogul, in the manner already mentioned, p. 785. The 

 essence is still procured almost in the same manner in which it was when 

 first discovered ; viz. by collecting the drops of oil which float on the surface 

 of vessels filled with rose water, when exposed to a strong heat, and then 

 congealing it by cold. 



Roses give more or less of this oil according to their kind, and the climate 

 and soil in which they have been cultivated. The musk rose is considered the 

 best, and the climate and soil of Cashmere the most favourable; the otto of 

 roses procured from Persia is next in estimation to that of Cashmere; and that 

 of Syria, and that of the Barbary states, are considered to be of very inferior 

 quality. The manner of making the otto of roses in Cashmere is given by 

 Dr. Donald Monro, in the Transactions of the Society of Edinburgh, vol. i. 

 p. 12., published in 1790. The petals of the roses are put into a wooden 

 vessel along with pure water, and exposed for several days to the heat of the 

 sun. The oily particles, being disengaged by the heat, float upon the surface 

 of the water ; whence they are sucked up, from time to time, by applying to 

 them some very fine dry cotton wool. From this wool the oil is pressed into 

 little bottles, which are immediately afterwards sealed hermetically. The 

 quantity of essence obtained from 1001b. of rose petals scarcely amounts to 

 half a drachm. 



A wretched Substitute for Otto of Roses is said to be formed by the apothe- 

 caries of Paris: the petals ofi?6sa damascena, No. 35. p. 759., are boiled in a 

 large caldron of water along with as much hog's lard as will cover its surface 

 with a thin stratum of grease. The oil of the rose petals, on separating from 

 them by boiling, unites with this grease, from which it is again separated by 

 spirits of wine. 



A Conserve of Roses was formerly made of the hips, or fruit, when ripe and 



3g 4 



