620 
ICOSANDRIA. POLYGYNIA. Rosa 
■ SSSgg. 11 mSSSSSSmaS S Sm SS 
(*• cinnamomea , E. Bot. 2388, supposed to have been once discovered near 
Aketon pasture, Pontefract, is no longer found there, or elsewhere in 
hensive work on Roses in general, is probably that of M. Redout^, published at Paris in 
three volumes folio, and containing eight hundred kinds. About half that number are 
cultivated in our English nursery grounds: those of France, according to M. Desportes, boast 
no less than 2,533 named varieties. By proper management, a regular succession of 
flowering Roses, exhibiting an endless diversity of colours ; red, yellow, white, and even 
what is termed, though not very correctly, blue, may be continued from May till October, 
or, in favourable seasons, till near Christmas. Then indeed, with regret, do we behold 
their fragrant petals scattered beneath our feet; but even then we may deduce the moral 
inference, 
“ The Rose of the summer is gone. 
The fairest and loveliest one. 
Of mortals an emblem how true ! ” 
As does garden culture convert a desert or a wilderness into a blooming Eden, so will 
education improve the human mind: but it is wise ever to recollect that man in his most 
perfect state cannot escape the inevitable doom; for “ all flesh is grass, and all the glory 
of man as the flower of the field ; the grass withereth, and the flower fadeth away : ” but 
wisdom, virtue, and the blessings of Christianity never fade, and are never exhausted ; they 
are the eternal fountains of joy, whose waters shall refresh when every other source is 
dried up.—When gathered, the flowers may be agreeably displayed, and long preserved, 
in shallow, ornamented pans, composed of tin or china, the lids being pierced to admit 
the flower-stalks. Both white and red Roses are used in medicine. The former distilled 
with water yields a small portion of butyraceous oil, whose flavour exactly resembles 
that of the roses themselves. The oil and the distilled water are very useful and agree¬ 
able cordials. These roses also, besides the cordial and aromatic virtues which reside in 
their volatile parts, have an aperient effect, which remains in the decoction after distillation. 
The red Rose on the contrary, has an astringent and gratefully corroborant virtue. The 
leaves of Roses of all kinds, (especially those of R. canina ,) dried and infused in water, are 
recommended in Ephem. Nat. Cur. as a substitute for tea, “ giving a most pleasant 
greenness, and in the subastringent taste and grateful smell being equal or superior to 
tea, and more wholesome.” That such an infusion may be less deleterious we can readily 
imagine ; for, though the effect of our foreign tea may be fora while palatable and exhilarat¬ 
ing, debilitating and enervating consecpiences (from which few constitutions are entirely 
exempt,) will ultimately prevail. Since its general adoption as our daily beverage, nervous 
disorders have been obviously on the increase ; superseding, indeed, in a degree, (as ex¬ 
perienced physicians will not deny,) the more natural phlogistic diathesis of the British 
temperament, but followed by yet more distressing, and too often irremediable, symptoms. 
Various native herbs have been suggested, at different periods, and by the most enlightened 
of the medical faculty, as desirable substitutes for the Chinese leaf; but so imperious is 
fashion, and so prone are her votaries to patronize exotic productions alone, that the fatal 
abuse seems likely to decline only with the ruined health, and abridged existence, it occa¬ 
sions. For some conclusive experiments on this subject, vid. Percival’s Essays. Rose leaves 
constitute a principal ingredient in the Pot-pourri. But the most delicious perfume to be 
obtained from Roses is in the form of an essential oil, commonly denominated Otter, but 
according to more correct orthography Attar, or Atar. It is said to be obtained by the 
following simple process. Fill any large vessel with the picked petals of Roses ; cover them 
with spring water; expose them to the sun daily for a week ; oily particles will rise to 
the surface, and gradually form a pellicle, which is the Attar, and should be removed by 
a piece of cotton, and closely corked in small phials. A perfumer in Paris, who made 
this costly preparation for Louis XVI., declares that four thousand pounds weight of the 
leaves yielded only seventeen ounces of the oil. Probably in an Asiatic climate the pro¬ 
duct might be somewhat less scanty. Rose-water was formerly in more general use among 
the rich and great than in our age, and on state occasions was usually presented in silver- 
gilt ewers ■ 
“ Attend him with a silver bason 
Full of Rose-water Shaks. 
Among the charges in the account of a dinner of Lord Leycester, Chancellor of the 
University of Oxford, Sept. 5, 1570, is the item, “ Rose-water to wash afore dinners, and 
