326 
MANUFACTURE  OF  THE  OTTO  OF  ROSE. 
The  quantity  of  rose  leaves  required  to  produce  one  metical, 
(lj  drachms)  of  the  oil,  varies  from  30  to  60  lbs.,  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  weather.  If  the  roses  open  during  wet  weather, 
and  flower  slowly,  the  yield  is  at  its  maximum ;  if,  however,  the 
weather  is  hot,  and  the  bush  flowers  vigorously,  the  yield  dimin- 
ishes, the  rose  itself  is  paler,  and  if  not  picked  at  an  early  stage 
yields  almost  nothing. 
There  is  a  green  wax  that  comes  off  the  calyx,  attaching  itself 
to  the  fingers  of  those  collecting,  that  also  yields  an  oil  by  dis- 
tillation. 
The  annual  product  of  otto  of  rose  in  this  region  is  from 
28,000  to  33,000  ounces,  although  so  largely  is  it  adulterated 
that  the  amount  of  oil  exported  as  rose  oil  is  upwards  of 
70,000  ounces. 
The  material  employed  for  adulteration  is  the  oil  of  a  species 
of  geranium,  very  probably  the  Pelargonium  roseum,  grown  in 
Arabia,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mecca,*  and  taken  to  Kisanlik, 
for  the  purpose  of  adulterating  the  otto  of  rose.  This  gera- 
nium oil  has  the  odor  of  the  rose  mixed  with  that  of  the  lemon. 
In  fact,  it  is  a  common  thing,  both  in  Europe  and  this  coun- 
try, to  find  this  geranium  oil  in  market,  called  otto  of  rose, 
sometimes  mixed  with  a  little  spermaceti  and  benzoic  acid. 
On  one  occasion,  a  merchant  at  Constantinople,  told  me  that 
he  sent  large  quantities  of  oil  of  geranium  to  parties  in  New 
York,  who  informed  him  through  his  agents  in  Smyrna,  that  it 
sold  very  readily  in  this  country  as  otto  of  rose,  and  that  the 
difference  was  not  appreciated. 
It  is  almost  impossible  to  obtain  the  oil  of  rose  pure  ;  the 
distiller  hardly  gets  his  oil  together  in  the  evening,  before  he 
commences  to  elongate  it  by  a  little  geranium  oil ;  if  it  be  only 
five  per  cent,  he  must  put  that  in.  Such  small  addition  as  that 
would  be  made  only  by  very  conscientious  traders.  Fifty  to 
two  hundred  per  cent,  are  far  more  commonly  added.  And  should 
the  otto  happen  to  sojourn  a  little  while  at  Constantinople,  it 
would  increase  still  farther  in  weight  and  bulk.   In  the  bazaars 
*  [Note. — The  reader,  by  reference  to  page  336,  will  find  this  point  sat- 
isfactorily settled  by  Mr.  Hanbury,  who  shows  that  the  so-called  oil  of 
geranium,  though  it  does  come  to  Turkey  from  Mecca,  is  really  produced 
in  Northern  India,  and  carried  to  Mecca  via  Red  Sea  commerce. — Editor.] 
