ON  OTTO  OF  ROSE. 
335 
bearing  a  calico  label  inscribed  with  Turkish  characters.  By 
the  dealers  at  Constantinople  it  is  transferred  to  cut  and  gilt 
glass  bottles  imported  from  Germany,  and  in  these  it  usually 
finds  its  way  to  the  markets  of  Europe.  Sometimes,  however, 
the  large  tin  bottles  are  imported  into  London,  it  being  supposed 
(and  with  some  reason)  that  the  Otto  they  contain  has  escaped 
being  tampered  with  at  Constantinople. 
According  to  the  official  returns  prepared  for  the  Board  of 
Trade,  the  quantities  of  Otto  of  Rose  imported  into  the  United 
Kingdom  upon  which  duty  was  paid,  were,  during  four  years,  as 
under : — 
1854  -    -    -  1251  lbs.,  equal  to  20,016  ounces 
1855  -    -    -  1012  «      «       16,192  « 
1856  -    -    -  1522  «       "        24,352  « 
1857  -   -   -  1591  «       «       25,456  « 
The  duty  is  one  shilling  per  pound. 
Adulteration  of  Otto  of  Rose. 
Although  in  Turkey  the  adulteration  of  Otto  of  Rose  is  some- 
times practised  by  the  producers,  and  especially  of  late  years, 
since  the  repeal  of  a  law  in  1840  or  1841  prohibiting  such 
adulteration  under  pain  of  death,*  it  is  chiefly  at  Constantinople 
that  this  fraudulent  practice  takes  place. 
Among  the  substances  which  have  been  used  for  the  adultera- 
of  Otto  of  Rose,  I  may  mention  two  as  specially  deserving  at- 
tention. The  first  is  Spermaceti,  which,  in  Turkey,  is,  I  am  as- 
sured, frequently  mixed  with  the  cheaper  qualities  of  Otto  ;  the 
second  which  is  far  more  systematically  and  extensively  employed, 
as  well  as  more  difficult  of  detection,  is  an  essential  oil,  called  in 
Turkish  Idris  YaghL^    It  is  not  unfrequently  imported  into 
*  I  give  this  upon  the  authority  of  Mr.  Edward  Schnell,  of  Adrianople,  to 
whom,  through  my  friend  Mr.  Maltass,  I  am  indebted  for  other  particulars  re- 
specting the  production  of  Otto  of  Rose  in  the  Balkan. 
f  I  have  taken  some  pains  to  discover  the  signification  of  this  name,  but 
without  much  success.  My  friend  Mr.  Redhouse,  thinks  it  is  Idris  Taghi,  which 
may  signify  Marsh-mallow  Oil:  and  as  there  is  a  word  in  Turkish  (Ebe'-gumtji) 
which  is  used  to  denote  both  the  Marsh-mallow  and  one  of  the  common  garden 
Geraniums,  so  it  is  possible  that  the  Arabic  idris  may  have  the  same  double 
signification: — though  the  application  of  any  term  signifying  geranium  to  the 
essential  oil  in  question,  is,  as  I  shall  show,  only  correct  in  so  far  as  that  there 
is  a  similarity  of  color. 
