290 
ON ATTAR OF ROSE. 
that the true ethereal oil of a geranium (as that of Pelargonium odoratusum) 
is used for mixing with attar, and this is certainly not the plant whence the so- 
called Oil of Geranium used in Turkey is derived.* 
The Turkish Geranium oil (in Turkish called enterschahf ) is according to the 
most credible accounts derived from a grass of the genus Andropogon from which 
it is distilled in the months of December and January in the neighbourhood of 
Delhi. It comes to Turkey by way of Arabia and is sold here by Arabs in 
large bladder-shaped vessels of tinned copper holding about 120 lb. each. 
When recent it is tolerably limpid, bright yellow to brownish, often coloured 
green through containing copper, and very frequently,—indeed mostly,—con¬ 
taminated by the addition of a fatty oil. In purchasing care must be taken to 
avoid that which contains much fixed oil, or which is mixed with some other 
essential oil. An experienced nose and a bit of cigarette paper are all the re¬ 
agents requisite for determining these additions. 
The Geranium oil as it arrives is however by no means in a proper condition 
for mixing with attar. Its odour and colour must as far as possible be assimi¬ 
lated to those of rose oil, and to this end it has to be refined. By this process 
it loses its penetrating after-smell, and according to the goodness of the sample 
treated, acquires sooner or later a pale, clear yellow colour. It also loses the 
property which it possesses in the unrefined state, of acquiring a red colour 
(separation of Cu 2 0) upon long standing. The purifying process is thus con¬ 
ducted : the crude oil is shaken repeatedly with water acidulated with lemon- 
juice, from which it is poured off after standing one day. The washed oil is 
then placed in shallow saucers exposed as much as possible to the sun and air, 
whereby it gradually loses its objectiouable odour. The spring and early summer 
are the seasons most suitable for this operation, the period required for it vary¬ 
ing according to the quality of the oil and the weather, from two to four 
weeks. Artificial bleaching agents could doubtless be used for depriving the 
oil of its colour, but not for refining its odour. Those who have tried them 
have always returned to the old method of exposure to solar light; and though 
the resources of art may not have been exhausted, they have certainly not yet 
been successfully applied for the improvement of this oil. 
Defined Geranium oil constitutes a bright yellow, somewhat viscid liquid, of 
an odour remotely suggestive of roses, and not over-strong ; its sp. gr. varies 
according to the degree of insolation (resiuification) from 088 to 0*92. When 
the oil is good and the refining process has been weil conducted, a considerably 
larger quantity may be added to the attar without diminishing its disposition 
to congeal than when the oil is of inferior quality. To this, the consistence or 
sp. gr. of an oil chiefly contributes, for the more the geranium oil accords in 
sp. gr. with the attar with which it is mixed, the more fully does the latter re¬ 
tain its own peculiar qualities. If geranium oil be re-distilled whereby it is 
rendered lighter, or if with the bleached oil, resin etc. is mixed so as to make it 
heavier and more viscid, the congealing power of attar with which either of 
such oils is mixed, is impaired. Geranium oil does not solidify at — 20° C. 
(— 4° Fahr.), but becomes at that temperature turbid and thick. Like attar, 
it takes up ozone from the air and shows an energetic reaction with iodine ; it 
is easily soluble in ordinary spirit of wine, and affords like attar a well-crystal¬ 
lized compound with CaCl. It is quite inactive to a ray of polarized light. 
* This is perfectly correct. True Geranium Oil distilled in the neighbourhood of Cannes 
from a variety of Pelargonium Badula Ait. is very distinct from the so-called Geranium oil of 
Turkey and of India, which are undoubtedly yielded by a grass of the genus Andropogon. 
D. A. 
f Is this a corruption of Itri shahi ^ j a name applied, according to Red- 
house’s Dictionary, to the “ scented-leaved geranium as well as to the Sweet Pea ? D. H. 
