ROSE. See Rosa.

RosΕ of Jericho, so called because it grow s in the plain of Jericho, though it did not originally flourish there. It has perhaps been so named by travellers who did not know that it was brought from Arabia Petraea. Rose-bushes are frequently found in the fields about Jericho; but they are of a specics much inferior to those so much extolled in Scripture, the flowers of which some naturalists pretend to have in their cabinets.

Roses, Ottar or Essential Oil of, is obtained from roses by simple distillation. A quantity of fresh roses, for example forty pounds, is put in a still with sixty pounds of water, the roses being left as they are with their calyxes, but with the stems cut close. The mass is then well mixed together with the hands, and a gentle fire is made under the still; when the water begins to grow hot, and fumes to rise, the cap of the still is put on, and the pipe fixed; the chicks are then well luted with paste, and cold water put on the refrigeratory at top. The receiver is also adapted at the end of the pipe; and the fire is continued under [7:19:481]the still, neither too violent nor too weak. When the impregnated water begins to come over, and the still is very hot, the fire is lessened by gentle degrees, and the distillation continued till thirty pounds of water are come over, which is generally done in about four or five hours. This rose-water is to be poured again on a fresh quantity (forty pounds) of roses, and from fifteen to twenty pounds of water are to be drawn by distillation, following the same process as before. The rose-water thus made will be found, if the roses be good and fresh, and the distillation carefully performed, highly scented with the roses. It is then poured into pans either of earthen ware or of tinned metal, and left exposed for the night to the fresh air. The ottar or essence will be found in the morning congealed, and swimming on the top of the water; and this is to be carefully separated and collected either with a thin shell or a skimmer, and poured into a phial. When a certain quantity has thus been obtained, the water and feces must be separated from the clear essence; which, with respect to the first, will not be difficult to do, as the essence congeals with a slight cold, and the water may then be made to run off. If, after that, the essence is kept fluid by heat, the feces will subside, and may be separated; but if the operation has been neatly performed, these will be little or none. The feces are as highly perfumed as the essence, and must be kept, after as much as possible of the essence has been skimmed from the rose-water. The remaining water should be used for fresh distillations, instead of common water, at least as far as it will go.

The above is the whole process, as given in the Asiatic Researches (vol. i. p. 332), of making genuine ottar of roses. Attempts, as the writer states, are often made to augment the quantity, though at the expense of the quality. Thus the raspings of sandal-wood, which contain a deal of essential oil, are used; but the imposition is easily discovered, both by the smell, and because the essential oil of sandal-wood will not congeal in common cold. In other places they adulterate the ottar by distilling with the roses a sweet-scented grass, which colours it of a high clear green. This does not congeal in a slight cold. There are numerous other modes, far more palpable, of adulteration. The quantity of esential oil to be obtained from roses is very precarious, depending on the skill of the distiller, on the quality of the roses, and on the favourableness of the season. The colour of the ottar is no criterion of its goodness, quality, or country. The calyxes by no means diminish the quality of ottar, nor do they impart any green colour to it. They indeed augment the quantity, but the trouble neces* sary to strip them is such as to prevent their being often used.

The following is a simpler and less expensive process for preparing this delicate and highly valued perfume, but whether it be equally productive we know not. A large earthen or stone jar, or a large clean wooden cask, is filled with the leaves of the flowers of roses, well picked and freed from the seeds and stalks; and as much spring-water as will cover them being poured into the vessel, it is set in the sun in the morning at sunrise, and allowed to stand till the evening, when it is removed into the house for the night. In the same way it is to be exposed for six or seven days successively. At the end of the third or fourth day a number of particles of a fine yellow oily matter is seen floating on the surface; and these particles in the course of two or three days more collect into a scum, which is the ottar of roses. This is taken up by means of cotton tied to the end of a piece of stick, and squeezed with the finger and thumb into a small phial, which is immediately well stopped; and this is repeated for some successive evenings, or whilst any of this fine essential oil rises to the surface of the water.