Scientific American Supplement, No. 275, April 9, 1881Various
Science
Scientific American Supplement, No. 275, April 9, 1881
Various
Science -- Periodicals
India itself has a considerable area devoted to rose-gardens, as at
Ghazipur, Lahore, Amritzur, and other places, the kind of rose being _R.
damascena_, according to Brandis. Both rose-water and otto are produced.
The flowers are distilled with double their weight of water in clay stills;
the rose-water (_goolabi pani_) thus obtained is placed in shallow vessels,
covered with moist muslin to keep out dust and flies, and exposed all night
to the cool air, or fanned. In the morning, the film of oil, which has
collected on the top, is skimmed off by a feather, and transferred to a
small phial. This is repeated for several nights, till almost the whole of
the oil has separated. The quantity of the product varies much, and three
different authorities give the following figures: (_a_) 20,000 roses to
make 1 rupee's weight (176 gr.) of otto; (_b_) 200,000 to make the same
weight; (_c_) 1,000 roses afford less than 2 gr. of otto. The color ranges
from green to bright-amber, and reddish. The oil (otto) is the most
carefully bottled; the receptacles are hermetically sealed with wax, and
exposed to the full glare of the sun for several days. Rose water deprived
of otto is esteemed much inferior to that which has not been so treated.
When bottled, it is also exposed to the sun for a fortnight at least.
The Mediterranean countries of Africa enter but feebly into this industry,
and it is a little remarkable that the French have not cultivated it in
Algeria. Egypt's demand for rose-water and rose-vinegar is supplied from
Medinet Fayum, south-west of Cairo. Tunis has also some local reputation
for similar products. Von Maltzan says that the rose there grown for otto
is the dog-rose (_R. canina_), and that it is extremely fragrant, 20 lb.
of the flower yielding about 1 dr. of otto. Genoa occasionally imports a
little of this product, which is of excellent quality. In the south of
France rose gardens occupy a large share of attention, about Grasse,
Cannes, and Nice; they chiefly produce rose-water, much of which is
exported to England. The essence (otto) obtained by the distillation of the
Provence rose (_R. provincialis_) has a characteristic perfume, arising, it
is believed, from the bees transporting the pollen of the orange flowers
into the petals of the roses. The French otto is richer in stearoptene than
the Turkish, nine grammes crystallizing in a liter (1¾ pint) of alcohol at
the same temperature as 18 grammes of the Turkish. The best preparations
are made at Cannes and Grasse. The flowers are not there treated for the
otto, but are submitted to a process of maceration in fat or oil, ten
kilos. of roses being required to impregnate one kilo. of fat. The price of
the roses varies from 50c. to 1 fr. 25c. per kilo.
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