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Page 27
Ground rose-wood is valuable as a basis in the manufacture of sachet
powders for perfuming the wardrobe.
The French have given the name jacaranda to rose-wood, under the idea
that the plant called jacaranda by the Brazilians yields it, which is
not the case; "the same word has perhaps been the origin of
palisander--palixander, badly written."--_Burnett_.
ROSE.--
"Go, crop the gay rose's vermeil bloom,
And waft its spoils, a sweet perfume,
In incense to the skies."
OGILVIE.
This queen of the garden loses not its diadem in the perfuming world.
The oil of roses, or, as it is commonly called, the otto, or attar, of
roses, is procured (contrary to so many opposite statements) simply by
distilling the roses with water.
The otto, or attar, of rose of commerce is derived from the _Rosa
centifolia provincialis_. Very extensive rose farms exist at Adrianople
(Turkey in Europe); at Broussa, now famous as the residence of
Abd-el-Kader; and at Uslak (Turkey in Asia); also at Ghazepore, in
India.
The cultivators in Turkey are principally the Christian inhabitants of
the low countries of the Balkan, between Selimno, and Carloya, as far as
Philippopolis, in Bulgaria, about 200 miles from Constantinople. In good
seasons, this district yields 75,000 ounces; but in bad seasons only
20,000 to 30,000 ounces of attar are obtained. It is estimated that it
requires at least 2000 rose blooms to yield one drachm of otto.
The otto slightly varies in odor from different districts; many places
furnish an otto which solidifies more readily than others, and,
therefore, this is not a sure guide of purity, though many consider it
such. That which was exhibited in the Crystal Palace of 1851, as "from
Ghazepore," in India, obtained the prize.
"Attar of roses, made in Cashmere, is considered superior to any
other; a circumstance not surprising, as, according to Hugel, the
flower is here produced of surpassing fragrance as well as beauty.
A large quantity of rose-water twice distilled is allowed to run
off into an open vessel, placed over night in a cool running
stream, and in the morning the oil is found floating on the
surface in minute specks, which are taken off very carefully by
means of a blade of sword-lily. When cool it is of a dark green
color, and as hard as resin, not becoming liquid at a temperature
about that of boiling water. Between 500 and 600 pounds' weight of
leaves is required to produce one ounce of the attar."--_Indian
Encyclop�dia._
Pure otto of roses, from its cloying sweetness, has not many admirers;
when diluted, however, there is nothing to equal it in odor, especially
if mixed in soap, to form rose soap, or in pure spirit, to form the
esprit de rose. The soap not allowing the perfume to evaporate very
fast, we cannot be surfeited with the smell of the otto.
The finest preparation of rose as an odor is made at Grasse, in France.
Here the flowers are not treated for the otto, but are subjected to the
process of maceration in fat, or in oil, as described under jasmine,
heliotrope, &c.
The rose pomade thus made, if digested in alcohol, say 8 lbs. of No. 24
Pomade to one gallon of spirit, yields an esprit de rose of the first
order, very superior to that which is made by the addition of otto to
spirit. It is difficult to account for this difference, but it is
sufficiently characteristic to form a distinct odor. See the article on
fleur d'orange and neroli (pp. 77, 78), which have similar qualities,
previously described. The esprit de rose made from the French rose
pomade is never sold retail by the perfumer; he reserves this to form
part of his _recherche_ bouquets.
Some wholesale druggists have, however, been selling it now for some
time to country practitioners, for them to form extemporaneous
rose-water, which it does to great perfection. Roses are cultivated to
a large extent in England, near Mitcham, in Surrey, for perfumers' use,
to make rose-water. In the season when successive crops can be got,
which is about the end of June, or the early part of July, they are
gathered as soon as the dew is off, and sent to town in sacks. When they
arrive, they are immediately spread out upon a cool floor: otherwise, if
left in a heap, they heat to such an extent, in two or three hours, as
to be quite spoiled. There is no organic matter which so rapidly absorbs
oxygen, and becomes heated spontaneously, as a mass of freshly gathered
roses.
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