In the East Indies, attar is a general term for a perfume made from flowers. In Europe the term is generally used only of the attar or otto of roses, an essential oil made from Rosacentifolia, the hundred-leaved or cabbage-rose, Rosa damascena or damask-rose, Rosa moschdta or musk-rose, etc, 100,000 roses yielding only 180 grains of attar. Cashmere, Shiraz, and Damascus are celebrated for its manufacture, and there are extensive rose farms in the valley of Kezanlik in Roumelia and at Ghazipur in Benares. The oil is at first greenish, but afterwards it presents various tints of green, yellow, and red. It is concrete at all ordinary temperatures, but becomes liquid about 84 degrees Fahrenheit. It consists of two substances, a hydrocarbon and an oxygenated oil, and is frequently adulterated with the oils of rhodium, sandal-wood, and geranium, with the addition of camphor or spermaceti. Research Attar
Glaciers are icy masses of great bulk, harder than snow, yet not exactly like common ice, which cover the summits and sides of mountains above the snow-line. They are found in Switzerland, Scandinavia, the Andes, etc.
They extend down into the valleys often far below the snow-line, and bear a considerable resemblance to a frozen torrent. They take their origin in the higher valleys, where they are formed by the congelation and compression of masses of snow in that condition called by French writers neve, by German authors, firn.
The ice of glaciers differs from that produced by the freezing of still water, and is composed of thin layers filled with air-bubbles. It is likewise more brittle and less transparent. The glaciers are continually moving downwards, and not unfrequently reach the borders of cultivation. The rate at which a glacier moves generally varies from 45 to 60 cm in twenty-four hours.
At its lower end it is generally very steep and inaccessible. In its middle course it resembles a frozen stream
with an undulating surface, broken up by fissures or crevasses. As it descends it experiences a gradualdiminution from the action of the sun and rain, and from the heat of the earth. Hence a phenomenon universally attendant on glaciers - the issue of a stream of ice-cold turbid water from their lower extremity. The descent of glaciers is shown by changes in the position of masses of rock at their sides and on their surface. A remarkable glacier phenomenon is that of moraines, as they are called, consisting of accumulations of stones and detritus piled up on the sides of the glacier, or scattered along the surface. They are composed of fragments of rock detached by the action of frost and other causes.
The fissures or crevasses by which glaciers are traversed are sometimes more than 30 meters in depth, and from being often covered with snow are exceedingly dangerous to travellers. One of the most famous glaciers of the Alps is the Mer de Glace, belonging to Mont Blanc, in the valley of Chamouni, about 1740 meters above sea level. It is more especially, however, in the chain of Monte Rosa that the phenomena of glaciers are exhibited in their greatest sublimity, as also in their most interesting phases from a scientific point of view.
Glaciers exist in all zones in which mountains rise above the snow-line. Those of Norway are well known, and they abound in Iceland and Spitzbergen. Hooker and other travellers gave accounts of those of the Himalaya. They are conspicuous on the Andes, while the Southern Alps of New Zealandrival in this respect the Alpine regions of Switzerland.
The problem of the descent of the glaciers is of extraordinary interest, and various theories have been put forward to account for it. It was shown by Professor Forbes, of Edinburgh, that a glacier moves very much like a river; the middle and upper parts faster than the sides and the bottom; and he showed that glacier motion was analogous to the way in which a mass of thick mortar or a quantity of pitch flows down in an inclined trough. His theory is known as the viscous theory of glaciers, which presupposes that ice is a plastic body, and this plasticity has been satisfactorily explained by Professor James Thomson of Glasgow by the phenomenon of the melting and refreezing of ice.
Water, he discovered, when subjected to pressure, freezes at a lower temperature than when the pressure is removed. Consequently when ice is subjected to pressure it melts; if it is relieved of pressure the water again solidifies. Therefore if two pieces of ice are pressed together, they tend to relieve themselves by melting at their points of contact, and the water thus produced immediately solidifies on its escape. If ice is strained in any way it similarly relieves itself at the strained parts, and a similar regelation follows. This, when applied to the glaciers, gives a complete explanation of their plasticity. Pressed downwards by the vast superincumbent mass, the ice gradually yields. Melting and re-freezing takes place at some parts, at others the gradual yielding at strained points goes on. In the latter process there is no visible melting, but there is the gradual yielding from point to point to the pressure above, and there is the transference relatively to each other of the molecules that constitute the, at first sight, solid mass. If, however, at certain points the strain is intense, the ice becomes extremely brittle. The latter fact disposes of Tyndall's objection to Forbes' theory, which was based on the fact that crevasses proved the brittleness, and not the viscosity of ice. Research Glacier
The cabbage rose (Rosacentifolia) or pale rose, as it is also known, is a deciduous shrub of the family Rosaceae with thin brown branches armed with numerous greatly flattened almost straight prickles. The leaves are odd pinnate, with between five and seven ovate to elliptic, dark-green coloured, serrate leaflets which are softly hairy beneath. The petioles and peduncles are almost thornless, but have glandular bristles. The flowers are fragrant, pink in colour, with many petals which are whiter towards the base. The fruit consists of numerous hairy achenes enclosed in the enlarged, fleshy, flask-shaped, bright red receptacle. Research Cabbage Rose
The dog rose (Rosa canina) is a deciduous shrub of the family Rosaceae, native to Britain and Europe, with arched, downward-curving branches, which are armed with stout hooked prickles. The leaves are odd pinnate with between five and seven ovate to elliptic, serrate, leaflets. The petioles and midribs often bear prickles. The flowers are stalked, usually fragrant, with large spreading white or pink coloured petals. The fruit consists of numerous hairy achenes enclosed in the enlarged, fleshy, flask-shaped, bright red receptacle. Research Dog Rose
Eglantine is one of the names of the sweet-brier (Rosa rubiginosa), a kind of wild rose. The name has sometimes been erroneously used for other species of the rose and for the honeysuckle. Research Eglantine
Sweet Briar or Eglantine (Rosa eglanteria) is a shrub of the natural order Rosaceae, native to Europe, north Asia and West Asia. It forms a small bush with erect prickly stems, clothed also with gland-tipped bristles. The leaves are divided into five or seven roundish leaflets with toothed edges. The underside of the leaves is covered with glands that give off a sticky and sweet smelling excreta. The flowers are small, and rose-pink in colour, the fruit is a scarlet and egg- or pear-shaped. Research Sweet Briar
Tea Rose is a name given to a class of perpetual or autumnal roses. They are mostly hybrids of Rosa indica, and the name is derived from their scent. Research Tea Rose
Hendrik Conscience was a Flemish novelist. He was born in 1812 at Antwerp and died in 1883. Having educated himself he taught for a short time in a school, and then served in the army for six years. He was for a time tutor in Flemish to the royal princes, and from 1868 conservator of the Wiertz museum at Brussels. He wrote novels mainly dealing with the history of his country and provide accounts of everyday life in Belgium. They include The Lion of Flanders; Jakob van Artevelde; Batavia; Wooden Clara; BlindRosa; The Poor Nobleman; The Young Doctor; Maternal Love; etc. He also wrote a History of Belgium. Research Hendrik Conscience
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Attar
