May, ‘1910: uM 
salts of iron, ‘and beaten up with cloves 
and other spices, a thick paste of blackish 
colour is produced, This paste on exposure 
to the air, becomes exceedingly hard, and 
may be polished and turned in a lathe; 
from it are formed beads for rosaries, 
From the petals of the R. Damescens 
and R. semperflorens alaxative medicine 
can be produced, though it is seldom em- 
ployed. Curiously although the confec- 
tion compounded from, the 
speedily becomes mouldy, that made from 
these Roses never does so. In mixing 
the medicine an iron moriar caunot.be 
used on account of the pecutiw action of 
the Rose juice when 
Conserve of the Gallic Rose is 
in contact with 
metal. 
used as a vehicle for other medicines, and 
as a basis for blue pill. 
To produce an infusion of Roses, boiling 
distilled water is poured over the petals, 
After 
macerating for some hours the liquid is 
strained and sweetened. 
with lead can be used in this process, as 
and dilute sulphuric acid is added, 
No vessel glazed 
the-Roso juice acts.thereon as it does on 
iron. Theliquid is astringentand slightly 
tonic, and at one time was larcely vsed to 
check’excessive sweats, as well as fora 
throat gargle. In the latter case it is 
mingledswith honey, and is called Mel 
Rogaruin. 
golor 
, Simily way. 
As a dcodotee the Rose serves long 
after its own death, 
centilolia, having a very strong perfume, 
were at ono.time largely collected and 
saved after having been dried in the open 
air, care being taken not to break the 
several leaves ; for in this cago (contrary 
to the R. Gallica) desiccation impairs the 
fragrance, | Salt is added, with cloves and 
a little pepper, and the compound is 
placed in pots, from which asconds a 
perpotual though very mild scent, 
Whereas in the south of France there 
are oxtousive distillerios: where the scent 
known as rosewater is manufactured (as 
well as at “Mitcham, Surrey), Oriental 
countries produce the far more subtle and 
costly scents known as athar, athor, attar 
utter, or otto of roses, one of tho rarest 
and most valuable perfumes. Much 
Inystery at one time surrounded the 
-Dog. Rose-. 
The syrup used to sweeten and © 
medicines is manufactured ina 
THE. AUSTRALI AN GARDENER. 
{1 
A certain 
production of this famous drug: 
Donald Monro asserted that it was pro- 
duced by merely soaking the Rose in water, 
But Trommsdorf, after many experiments, 
failed to extract the attar thus. Others 
maintained that it was produced by distil- 
lation. Anglo- Indians, in the earlier days 
of our dominion in India, certainly dis- 
covered something about its production. 
Thus Bishop Reginald Heber of Calcutta 
in 1823 (his bishopric including Austra- 
lasia !), states that the Hindoos in his day 
used 20,000 1b. weight of Roses to extract. 
attar equalling 1 rupee in weight, this — 
selling for 100 rupees. Such a statement 
would scarcely be credible had we not the 
good bishop’s word for it. But he may 
have been mistaken, or was imposed upon. 
A Mr Jackson states that ‘from I lac 
of Roses it is generally calculated that 180 
ori ns of attav can be produced,’ 
Others havo calculated the yield at some- 
thing under 3 Jrachms of attar from 100 1b, 
of Rose leaves, an this when the season 
js good and the manufactur carefully per- 
formed. These authorit’es 
‘duction of the perfume state th .t 4,363 Ib. 
of Roses, after repeated distillation yiell 
8 oz of this subtle essence. 
R, Domasceua is largely cultivated f r he 
production of this scent. The oil ora‘tar 
ig skimmed off after a method adopted in 
Turkey. 
Kezanlyk in Roumelia is the great 
European centre of Rose culture for the 
on the pro- 
In India i!0 
The petals of Rosa manufacture of this wonderful perfume. 
The flowers grow in a highly fertile plain, 
which is well watered by thr River Tunja. 
A [substance known as English attar 
has been extracted from Roses grown in 
‘this country. Its scent is very faint 
compared with that which is made abroad. 
The extraordinarily high price at which 
the foreign perfume is. sold presents a 
great temptation to dishonest traders. It 
is commonly reported in India that the 
attar is adulterated by the mixing with 
the Rose leaves certain seeds called 
Guezely, as wellas with those of a variety 
of Digitalis known as the Sisama plant. 
Theso seeds which contain an essential oil, 
are lightly pressed fora period of ten days 
‘along with the Rose petals, thus absorbing 
their scent ; the processis repeated eight 
or ten times with fresh Rose leaves, after 
which the seeds are pressed hard to extract 
the oil, By this time it has acquired a 
smell which entitles it to be sold for the 
attar which it is not. 
a similar dodge, 
The genuine attar of Roses, below the 
temperature of 80 degrees F., is of crystal- 
line nature and solid, When very pure it ig 
without color ; ; when the temperature ig 
raised to 90 degrees its specific gravity is 
0-832. The chemical structure of the per- 
fume has been much discussed, but it 
seems now to be generally agreed that it 
consists of two volatile substances, of which 
the one is solid, the other liquid, in the 
proportion of 1 part of the solid to % parts 
the liquid. The first is a stearopten, the 
last an eleopten. The chemist Gobel 
states that the entire ‘oil’ consists of carbon 
69-06, hydrogen 16-05, and oxygen 14-28 ; 
but Saussure contends that it containg 
The variable 
nature of the substance which is sold as 
attar accounts for these diversities of 
opinion, for itis so erstly that its adult- 
eration 1s universal, 
The Chinamen have — 
nitrogen, exceedingly 
Curiously enough, 
its admixture with other essential oils 
such as those extracted from Indian grass, 
Andropogon, and Arcorus calamus), or 
from sandalwood, or from Rhodium 
(Convolvulvus scoparius), renders its 
adulteration very difficult of detection. 
The great value of this perfume causes 
it to be car. fully conveyel over inland 
ty Asiatic merchauis to Smyrna in 
The 
impozes a duty on its 
routes 
Asia Mince» and to Cons‘antinople. 
Sultan of Turk ; 
importation, 
Antand Aphis. 
The green fly which bothers tho growers 
of roses and other flowers so badly, andof 
which the lady-bird is such an enemy, is- 
sometimes called the ‘ant cow.’ The 
interesting relations between the ant and 
the aphis aro well known, and the question 
arises, to what extent, if any, do the 
intentions of the former affect the pros- 
perity of the latter? It is possible that 
the ant, by its frequent presence for the 
purpose of ‘milking’ the aphis, may serve 
to keep off some of the natural onemies of 
the later, ‘This, of course, would tend to 
promote the increase of the herd’, 
