PREPARATION OF VOLATILE OIL OF ROSES IN THE EAST. 335 
in the Materia Medica." "Leptandrin " is represented as a jet 
black substance resembling asphaltum. 
Sangainaria canadensis yields to treatment such as described, 
a bright red substance, of a resinous character, said to contain 
both its resinoid and alkaloid principles ; but of this, consider- 
ing the relations and habitudes of the latter, there would seem 
to be some doubt. The so called Sanguinarin of Merrill, how- 
ever, is said to have met with some favor, as combining the 
stimulating and narcotic powers of the root in a concentrated 
form. My experiments upon it have not been sufficiently 
matured up to the time of going to press to lead to a satisfactory 
account of its chemical characters. 
Of the numerous other preparations spoken of in the article 
from which I have quoted, some are purely empirical, others are 
prepared from vegetable simples, with the medicinal value of 
which, (if they possess any), the regular profession is but little 
acquainted, and others are well known to pharmaceutists gene- 
rally, and are found in the shops of regular as well as of the self 
styled "Eclectic Pharmaceutists." 
ON THE PREPARATION OF VOLATILE OIL OF ROSES IN THE 
EAST. 
By Dr. X. Landerer, 
Hon. Member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britian, Professor in the University of 
Athens, Pliarmacien to the King of Greece, &c. 
Pharmacologists distinguish two' varieties of essential oil of 
roses, namely, the Indian [Oleum rosarum Indicum,) and that 
from the Levant [Oleum rosarum Levanticum.} 
These volatile oils are obtained from various species of rose, 
but principally from Rosa sempervirens, R. moscliata and R. 
centifolia. 
The methods by which the oil is extracted are various. In 
India the fresh petals are allowed to macerate in water in vessels 
exposed to the sun, and the oil which is found floating on the 
surface, is removed by decantation. Distillation with water is 
sometimes resorted to, the volatile oil being separated in a con- 
gealed state after exposure to the well saturated rose water in a 
