36 
DESCRIPTION OF ROSES, 
Description of Roses. —As a continuation of the foregoing notice 
of roses, we subjoin the following account from a late popular writer : — 
“ Numerous as the roses are, upwards of two hundred species being 
known, besides threefold that number of varieties, they are all so similar 
in structure that it has been found expedient to include the whole in a 
single genus. Various attempts have been made to subdivide the roses 
generically; but even the Lowea of Lindley, though differing in the 
organs of vegetation from the other species, cannot be regarded as more 
than a sub-genus ; and hence Rosa stands alone. 
“ The species which affords the chief garden varieties is R . spinosis- 
sima , the Burnet rose, of which there are about two hundred double 
and single sorts; R. Damascenei, the Damascus or damask rose, of 
which there are upwards of lifty sorts; R. centifolia, the hundred-leaf 
or cabbage rose, of which there are nearly eighty sorts, besides the very 
distinct group of moss-roses (i?. muscosa ), about seven in number (the 
Messrs. Rivers have twenty-four), which are varieties of this species; 
R . Gallica, the French rose, of which there are nearly two hundred 
sorts ; R. alba, the white rose, of -which there are about thirty sorts 
R. rubiginosa, the sweet-briar or eglantine, of which there are eleven 
or twelve varieties, and several sub-varieties ; R. comma, the dog-rose, 
of which there are seventeen varieties; R . Indica and sempevfLorens, 
the monthly and Chinese roses, of which there are about forty-nine 
sorts; R. systyla, arvensis, sempervirens, mull fora, moschata , Banksia, 
and others, contribute to ornament our gardens and enrich our roseries; 
and besides such as are traceable to different species, there are upwards 
of seven hundred sorts recorded in our catalogues, the specific connec¬ 
tions of which cannot with certainty be traced. 
“ It would be as foolish to praise as to paint the rose; it requires no 
commendation. Perhaps from such a notion it might be that this flower 
was considered the symbol of silence; for we are told that the goddess 
Isis, and her son, Harpocrates, were crowned with chaplets oP roses. 
“ Roses are intolerant of smoke, and hence they never thrive either in 
or very near large towns. R. canina, or the dog-rose, is grown for the 
sake of the succulent calyx-tube that invests its akenia, from which the 
conserve of hips, a pleasant pectoral medicine, is made. The petals of 
R. Gallica and Damascena are collected for the purpose of making 
infusions and a confection of rose petals, both much used in medicine. 
Rose-water and the attar of roses are both procured from R. centifolia . 
About six pounds of rose leaves will make a gallon of good rose-water ; 
but from two hundred to two hundred and fifty pounds weight are 
required to yield one ounce of the attar; hence surprise ceases at its 
