_Herba Anthos_; _Rosemary_; F. _Romarin_; G. _Rosmarin_.
=Botanical Origin=—_Rosmarinus officinalis_ L., an evergreen shrub,
attaining a height of 4 feet or more, abundant on dry rocky hills of
the Mediterranean region, from the Spanish peninsula[1786] to Greece
and Asia Minor. It generally prefers the neighbourhood of the sea,
but occurs even in the Sahara, where it is collected and conveyed by
caravans to Central Africa.[1787] It does not succeed well in Germany.
=History=—Rosemary[1788] is mentioned by Pliny, who ascribes to it
numerous virtues. It was also familiar to the Arab physicians of Spain,
one of whom, Ibn Baytar (13th cent.), states it to be an object of
trade among the vendors of aromatics.[1789] In the middle ages rosemary
was doubtless much esteemed, as may be inferred from the fact that it
was one of the plants which Charlemagne ordered to be grown on the
imperial farms.
It was probably in cultivation in Britain prior to the Norman Conquest,
as it is recommended for use in an Anglo-Saxon herbal of the 11th
century.[1790] In the “Physicians of Myddvai” a curious chapter[1791]
is devoted to the virtues of Rosemary, called “Ysbwynwydd, and Rosa
Marina in Latin.” The essential oil was distilled by Raymundus
Lullus[1792] about A.D. 1330. John Philip de Lignamine,[1793] a writer
of the 15th century, describes Rosemary as the usual condiment of
salted meats.
[1786] From Galicia in Spain, stems of Rosmarinus having 2½ inches in
diameter were to be seen at the Paris Exhibition, 1878.
[1787] Duveyrier, _Les Touaregs du Nord_, 1864. 187.
[1788] From _ros_ and _marinus_,—literally _marine dew_. Various
opinions have been held as to the allusion conveyed by the name.
[1789] Sontheimer’s translation, i. 73.
[1790] _Herbarium Apuleii_—_Leechdoms etc. of Early England_, i. (1864)
185.
[1791] _Meddygon Myddfai_ (see Appendix) p. 261. 292. 440.
[1792] Manget, _Bibliotheca chemica curiosa_, Genevæ, i. (1702) 829.
[1793] _Conservatorium Sanitatis_ (or also, according to Haller,
_Biblioth. botanica_, i. 237, _De conservatione sanitatis_, Bononiæ,
1475) cap. 81.
=Description=—Rosemary has sessile, linear, entire, opposite leaves
about an inch in length, revolute at the margin; they are of coriaceous
texture, green and glabrous above, densely tomentose and white beneath.
Examined under a lens, the tomentum both of the leaves and young shoots
is seen to consist of white stellate hairs; in that of the shoots which
is less dense, minute oil-glands are discernible. These glands are of
two kinds, large and small, and probably do not yield one and the same
oil. The flowers have a campanulate 2-lipped calyx, and a pale blue
and white corolla, the upper lip of which is emarginate and erect,
the lower 3-lobed with the central lobe concave and pendulous. The
whole plant has a very agreeable smell and a strong aromatic taste. It
flowers in the early spring.
=Production of Essential Oil=—Rosemary is cultivated on a very
small scale in English herb-gardens, and though a little oil has
been occasionally distilled from it, English oil of rosemary is an
article practically unknown in commerce. That with which the market
is supplied is produced in the south of France and on the contiguous
coasts of Italy. The plant, which is plentifully found wild, is
gathered in summer (not while in flower) and distilled, the operator
being sometimes an itinerant herbalist who carries his copper alembic
from place to place, erecting it where herbs are plentiful, and
where a stream of water enables him to cool a condenser of primitive
construction.
Oil of rosemary is also produced on a somewhat large scale in the
island of Lesina, south of Spalato in Dalmatia, whence it is exported
by way of Trieste, even to France and Italy, to the extent of 300 to
350 quintals annually.[1794]
Some of the French manufacturers of essences offer oil of rosemary at
a superior price as drawn _from the flowers_, by which we presume is
meant the _flowering tops_, for the separation of the actual flowers
would be impracticable on a large scale. The great bulk of the oil
found in commerce is however that distilled from the entire plant.
=Chemical Composition=—The peculiar odour of rosemary depends on the
essential oil, which is the only constituent of the plant that has
afforded matter for chemical research.
Lallemand (1859) by fractional distillation, resolved oil of rosemary
into two liquids,—the one a mobile hydrocarbon boiling at 165° C. and
turning the plane of polarization to the left; the other, boiling
between 200° and 210° C., deposits when exposed to a low temperature a
large quantity of camphor. Gladstone (1864) found the oil to consist
almost wholly of a hydrocarbon, C₁₀H₁₆. This, according to our
experiments, constitutes about ⁴/₅ of the oil; it deviates the plane of
polarization to the left, whereas a fraction boiling at 200° to 210°
C. deviates to the right. By warming the latter with nitric acid, we
observed the odour of common camphor, and may therefore infer that a
compound, C₁₀H₁₈O, is present in the oil under examination.
From Montgolfier’s investigations (1876) it would appear that the
stearoptene or camphor above alluded to is a mixture of a dextrogyrate
and a lævogyrate substance.
[1794] Unger, _Der Rosmarin und seine Verwendung in
Dalmatien—Sitzungsberichte der Wiener Akademie_, lvi. (1867) 587;
abstracted, with a few additions, in _Pharm. Journ._ ix. (1879) 618.
=Uses=—The flowering tops and dried leaves are kept by the herbalists,
but are not used in regular medicine. The volatile oil is employed as
an external stimulant in liniments, and also as a perfume. Rosemary is
popularly supposed to promote the growth of the hair.