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THE BOTANICAL LOOKER-OUT. 
thickly planted with Rose-trees, of which great care is taken. This attar, or 
otto of Roses, is the most remarkable of all the preparations from the flower, 
and has the consistence of butter, becoming liquid only in the very hottest 
weather. It is made almost in the way indicated by its accidental discovery, 
only that the Rose-petals are put into a wooden vessel with pure water, first 
exposed to a powerful heat, which forces the oil to the surface, when it is gathered, 
and then congealed by cold: but so tedious is the manufacture of any quantity, 
that half a drachm of the attar can scarcely be obtained from 100 lbs of Rose 
petals. The scent of the minutest grain of the genuine essence, is, however, 
very powerful. 
In an odour-breathing little volume, entitled Memoirs of the Rose , which we 
have just picked up to consult, it is observed,—“ The Rose,"you are aware, is not 
only the flower of love, and the emblem of beauty, but is also considered the 
symbol of secrecy. A kiss is often taken and allowed c under the Rose.’* A 
belief that two young companions have become lovers, is a suspicion whispered 
-— c under the Rose.’ The certainty of arrangements for an intended marriage 
often transpires— 6 under the Rose ;’ and whenever I greet the full-blown impres¬ 
sion of your exquisitely-engraven seal, with its appropriate motto— c Sub Rosa ’ 
I always anticipate beneath it, if not a poetical kiss or a lover’s secret, yet 
expressions of kindness and feelings of friendship, which are sacred and inviolate.” 
As the origin of this secrecy, “under the Rose,” it is said that Cupid, on some 
occasion, bribed Harpocrates to silence by the presence of a Rose (a golden effigy 
of one, it is to be presumed); and hence, at banquets it was formerly the custom 
to suspend a Rose over the table, as a hint that things might transpire over the 
convivial board not to be repeated elsewhere. The Rose was always considered 
a mystical emblem of the Catholic Church, probably from the mention of the 
“ Rose of Sharon ” in Scripture; and even now the ceremonial of blessing the 
Rose is still performed at Rome. It was a very common ornament in Gothic 
architecture. 
Our space will only here allow a very brief botanical reference to the numerous 
species and varieties of Roses, more especially when the different supposed species 
so approximate to each other, that it is often difficult to draw the line of dis¬ 
tinction between them; and Linnaeus was of opinion that Nature herself had, 
in this genus, prescribed no certain limits. The lovers of Roses may, however, 
consult Miss Lawrence’s work, where ninety kinds are figured ; Lindley’s 
Monograph; the various Floras where they are enumerated; Loudon’s Arbore¬ 
tum; or the splendid French work of M. Redoute, containing descriptions of 
* This,.is all right, and forms the undisputed privilege of a “ botanical looker-out,” who, with 
his Red Rose at Midsummer, and Mistletoe at Christmas, need never he without employment or 
rational amusement. 
