and in sincerity advance such opinions and state such facts as the above; and it is but an additional proof, if such were wanting, that nothing can be advanced too monstrous or too incredible to be entirely without believers.

If the sight of roses, or their delicate fragrance, has been generally delightful and pleasing, there have also been those who could not endure them. Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII., of France, although otherwise very fond of perfumes, had such an antipathy to the rose, that she could not bear the sight of one even in a painting. The Duke of Guise had a still stronger dislike, for he always made his escape at the sight of a rose. Dr. Ladelius mentions a man who was obliged to become a recluse, and dared not leave his house, during the season of roses; because, if he happened to imbibe their fragrance, he was immediately seized with a violent cold in his head.

The odor of the rose, like that of many other flowers, has often occasioned serious injury, particularly in closed apartments; and no one should venture to sleep with them in his chamber. Some authors of credibility mention instances of death caused by a large quantity of roses being left during the night in a sleeping apartment. Thus it is, that the most beautiful things in life contain the elements of death.

4

roses were most frequently used, because they grew everywhere in the greatest abundance.

Perfumes of every kind were more abundantly used among the ancient Greeks and Romans, than at the present day. Athenæus, in his Feast of Wise Men, states that nearly all of these were drawn from the Rose, and says that the most sweet were those of Cyrene, while those of Naples, Capua, and Faseoli, were the best and most delightful of all.

This agrees with the subsequent researches made on the same subject, by D'Orbessan. "The cities of Naples, Capua, and Preneste," says the latter, "obtained their roses from Campania, where there is yet a considerable tract of land, commonly called Il mazzone delle Rose.

"This field is sometimes called Rosetinus, on account of the prodigious quantity of roses which grow there without culture, and in greater abundance than in any other section of that country."

Athenæus states that the perfume of roses was frequently used in culinary preparations, and gives a curious receipt for a sort of pot-pourri, made by the cook of the King of Sicily. "This is what I call potted roses, and it is thus prepared: I first pound some of the most fragrant roses in a mortar; then I take the brains of birds and pigs, well boiled and stripped of every particle of meat; I then add the yolks of some eggs, some oil, a little cordial, some pepper, and some wine: after having beaten and mixed it well together, I throw it in a new pot, and place it over a slow, but steady fire." "As he said these things," so runs the story, "the cook uncovered the pot, and there issued forth a most delicious fragrance, perfuming the whole dining-hall and overcoming the guests with delight." This is a point in gastronomic luxury to which Americans have not yet attained.

Although the perfume of roses was considered more choice than any other, it was frequently used when men were least in the state to enjoy it; for D'Orbessan states that slaves were made to burn it around their masters while sleeping.

If the essential oil of roses was known in the time of Pliny,

that author would have mentioned it among the most esteemed and precious perfumes. So far from this, however, he only speaks of the "Royal Perfume," so called because it was prepared expressly for the King of the Parthians. This was composed of the oil of Ben, an Arabian tree, with several aromatic substances. According to Langles, who has carefully examined a great number of oriental works, no writer previous to the 16th century has mentioned the essential oil of roses, although these flowers abounded at that time, and mention is made of rosewater as an agreeable perfume. Besides these negative proofs against the ancient existence of this perfume, Langles quotes several oriental historians, from which it seems evident that its discovery dates about the year 1612, and was owing entirely to accident.

According to Father Catron, in his History of the Mogul Empire, in the fêtes which the sultana Nourmahal gave to the great Mogul Jehan-guire, their chief pleasure was sailing together in a canal which Nourmahal had filled with rose-water.

One day that the Emperor was thus sailing with Nourmahal, they perceived a sort of froth forming and floating upon the water. They drew it out, and perceived that it was the essential oil which the heat of the sun had disengaged from the water and collected together on the surface. The whole seraglio pronounced the perfume the most exquisite known in the Indies; and they immediately endeavored to imitate by art that which nature had made. Thus was discovered the essence, essential oil, otto or attar of roses.

According to Langles, the word A'ther, A'thr or Othr, which the Arabs, Turks, and Persians use to designate the essential oil of Roses without adding the name of that flower, is Arabic, and signifies perfume. It is necessary, the same author states, to recollect the distinction between A'ther or A'ther gul and gulab, which is simply rose-water.

From the very small quantity congealed on the surface of the water, the manufacture is limited and the cost of the article immense. Langles states that the rose-water is left ex

posed to the freshness of the night, and in the morning a very small quantity of attar is found collected on the surface.

Dr. Monro, according to Loudon, gives the manner of making the attar in Cashmere, which is apparently more simple, without the tedious process of distilling.

"The rose-petals are put into a wooden vessel with pure water, and exposed for several days to the heat of the sun. The oily particles being disengaged by the heat, float upon the surface of the water, whence they are taken up from time to time, by applying to them some very fine dry cotton wool. From this wool the oil is pressed into little bottles, which are immediately afterwards sealed hermetically."

Another method is, exposing the rose water to strong heat, then suddenly cooling it, and collecting the drops of congealed oil which float upon the surface.

Bishop Heber describes the method used in India, which is very similar to that of Langles. The attar has the consistency of butter, and never becomes liquid except in the warmest weather.

Loudon states that "a wretched substitute for otto of roses, is said to be formed by the apothecaries of Paris. The petals of Rosa damascena are boiled in a large caldron of water, along with as much hog's lard as will cover its surface with a thin stratum of grease. The oil of the rose-petals, on separating from them by boiling, unites with this grease, from which it is again separated by spirits of wine." A large portion of the attar imported into the United States is probably of this manufacture; and the corn-fed animals of the West yield a part of their unctuous bodies to be sent to France, and returned to us in a shape fit for the lady's handkerchief or boudoir.

The quantity of genuine attar produced from a given weight of rose-petals is not always the same; it is very liable to vary according to the nature of the climate, the temperature of different seasons, the period of bloom at which the roses are picked, the process of manufacture, and the skill of the manufacturers. Generally a hundred pounds of roses will scarcely produce a drachm of attar, sometimes only half a drachm, and at others a