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 persons to whose sensitive organizations the odor is disagreeable should not sleep with them in the 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.
[CHAPTER XIV.]
PERFUMES OF THE ROSE.
At an early period in the cultivation of the Rose, and after its admission among the luxuries of the wealthy, human skill was exerted to extract its delightful perfume.
Several authors have considered the invention of the essence of the Rose very ancient, and have even traced it back as far as the siege of Troy. This, however, can scarcely be admitted, for nothing relating to the essence or essential oil of roses can be found in Homer, or in any other author for many subsequent years. The discovery of these valuable articles of commerce was made at a much later period. If the essential oil of roses had been known to the ancient Greeks or Romans, it would probably have been more particularly mentioned by Pliny, and the mode of preparation even would have been described. In speaking, however, of various perfumes, he says nothing of any distillation from the petals of the Rose, but simply mentions that, as early as the siege of Troy, the expressed juice of roses was known, and being mixed with a delicate oil, formed an agreeable perfume.
In speaking of artificial oils in general, Pliny also observes that the oil of roses was made by simply steeping the rose-petals in oil. According to the same author, oil was the body of nearly all the perfumes used at that day, and for a perfuming substance, 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.