ROSA GALLICA. 
4t 
merchant, in whom the smell of roses occasioned an ophthalmia.* 
From the experiments of Drs. Priestley and Ingenliousz, these effects 
seem to be owing to the mephitic air (carbonic acid gas) which 
these and most other odoriferous flowers exhale.f 
Medical Properties and Uses. These roses possess but 
very slight medicinal properties, and are seldom administered inter- 
nally. A decoction of the petals is gently laxative ; as such it is 
prescribed in the form of syrup, and when combined with oil or 
manna, is found to be an useful laxative for infants. Their chief use 
however, is in the distillation of rose-water. 
Off. The Petals. 
Off. Pp. Aq. Rosae, L. E. D. 
Syrupus Rosae, L. E. 
ROSA GALLICA. 
Red Officinal Rose. 
For Class, Order, Nat. Ord. and Gen. Char. 
see Rosa Centifolia. 
Spec. Char. Germens ovate. Peduncles stiff, erect, and 
hairy. Stem prickly. 
This species of rose is a native of the south of Europe ; it is in 
general cultivation in our gardens, flowering in June and July. The 
stalks rise from two to three feet in height, are erect, and armed 
\vith a few short straight prickles ; the leaves consist of two or 
three pair of leaflets, with a terminal one, but the leaflets are 
smaller than those of the Centifolia, and but slightly tomentose 
on the underside ; the flowers are composed of many large widely- 
spreading petals, of a rich deep crimson colour, slightly fragrant, 
and displaying in the center numerous stamens, the filaments of 
* Ephem. Nat. Curios, dec. ii. an. 2, obs. xo. 
+ See Exper. on Vegetables, by Dr. Ingenhousz, 
