Attar of Roses

a fragrant oil obtained from the petals of roses. The fragrance of a rose is due to microscopic globules of oil that evaporate freely. Attar is combustible. A district near Benares, India, is famous for rose gardens. Attar of roses is extensively produced near Damascus and in Cashmere. It is a favorite perfume of the wealthy Turks, Persians, and Hindus. The attar requires so many roses that it is exceedingly expensive. Some 400,000 roses are required to produce an ounce of pure attar worth perhaps $80 or $100. Only a few of the cultivated varieties of roses are used in producing the oil. During the season the roses are gathered daily. Buds that open in the morning are picked before the midday sun dissipates the fragrance. The fragrant portions of roses are put into a closed still, and are boiled in water,--in a teakettle with a tight lid, as it were. The minute globules of fragrant oil in the petals are broken up and the oil escapes with the steam through a pipe into another receptacle, where, on the steam cooling, the oil floats on the water and may be poured off into small vials for shipment. The water the petals are boiled in also retains a part of the fragrant oil and may be sold as rose water. See Perfumes