Otto, or Attar, of Roses

Otto, or Attar, of Roses is the volatile oil or otto of the petals of some species of rose, obtained by aqueous distillation, and highly prized as a perfume. It is a nearly colourless or light-yellow crystalline solid at temperatures below 80° F., liquefying a little above that temperature. It is imported from the East, where in the Balkan Peninsula, Syria, Persia, and India roses are cultivated to a considerable extent for its sake. It is probable that the oriental otto is the produce of more than one species of Rose (q.v.); it is uncertain what species is cultivated in some of the localities most celebrated for it, but Rosa damascena is known to be so employed in the north of India, and a kind of otto is sometimes obtained by the makers of rose-water from Rosa centifolia in Europe. Ghazipur, near Benares, is celebrated for its rose-gardens, which surround the town, and are in reality fields occupied by rows of low rose-bushes, extending over 160 acres. Cashmere is noted for its extensive manufacture of otto, as are also the neighbourhoods of Shiraz and Damascus. Kezanlik is the centre of the rose-growing district in the Balkans, which is 40 miles long; Rosa moschata affords the chief supply. The gathering is commenced on the third year, and is carried on chiefly in May and June. About 7200 lb. of petals are required to produce 2½ lb. of otto, or about the gathering of 2½ acres. The pure essence fetches from £16 to £18 the pound, and the annual product in Roumelia may be £80,000 in good seasons. The French perfumers buy the first quality, Austria and America the second. In the south of France about 30 million pounds of roses are gathered annually for oil distillation at about 2s. 3d. per lb. According to some calculations, 250 to 300 lb. of rose-petals are required there to produce an ounce of otto by ordinary distillation. To procure the otto, the rose-petals are usually distilled with about twice their weight of water, and the produce exposed to the cool night-air in open vessels, from which the thin film of otto is skimmed with a feather in the morning. Otto is said to have been first procured by what may be called an accidental distillation of rose-petals exposed with water to the heat of the sun, and to have been found floating on the surface of the water; it is still sometimes obtained in India by such a process. It is said to be also obtained by dry distillation of rose-petals at a low temperature. During the distillation of rose-petals a small quantity of a solid volatile oil comes over, which crystallises and floats on the water in the receiver; this is sometimes called English Oil of Roses. Otto of roses is not unfrequently adulterated with geranium-oil, sandalwood-oil, oil of rhodium, &c. It is much used for making hair-oil, a drop of it being enough to impart a pleasant odour to a considerable quantity; olive-oil scented by a few drops of otto is often sold under the name of otto of roses. It is also used in making lavender-water and other perfumes. The odour of otto itself is too powerful to be altogether pleasant, and frequently gives headache. Another method of obtaining the scent of roses is described in the article PERFUMERY. Otto of roses is a mixture of two volatile or essential oils; the one solid at ordinary temperatures, and the other liquid. The solid oil of roses (rose camphor, stéaroptèn of oil of roses) possesses of itself very little odour. The liquid oil of roses (éléoptène of oil of roses) is a very fragrant liquid. The otto of roses may be regarded as a solution of one part of the solid oil in two parts of the liquid. Medicines are occasionally perfumed by otto of roses, and it is sometimes added to unguents and spirit-washes.