called cabiuna and jacaranda by the Brazilians. The same name, jacaranda, is applied to several species of Machaerium, also trees belonging to the natural order Leguminosae; and there can be no doubt that a certain proportion of the rosewood of commerce is drawn from these sources. Rosewood comes to the United Kingdom from Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Jamaica and Honduras. The heartwood attains large dimensions, but as it begins to decay before the tree arrives at maturity it is always faulty and hollow in the centre. On this account squared logs or planks of rosewood are never seen, the wood being imported in half-round flitches 10 to 20 ft. in length and from 5 to 12 in. in their thickest part. Owing to its irregular form, the wood is sold by weight, and its value varies within wide limits according to the richness of colour. Rosewood has a deep ruddy brown colour, richly streaked and grained with black resinous layers. It takes a fine polish, but, on account of its resinous nature, it is somewhat difficult to work. The wood is very much in demand both by cabinet-makers and pianoforte-makers, by whom it is used both solid and in veneer.
The wood of Dalbergia latifolia, a native of the East Indies, used for ornamental furniture and carvings under the name of black wood, is frequently termed East Indian Rosewood. The Bois de Rose of the French, the Portuguese Pao de Rosa, and the German Rosenholz is a Brazilian wood, the produce of Physocalymma floribundum, called in the United Kingdom tulip wood, and very highly esteemed on account of its beautiful rose colour and grain.
ROSICRUCIANISM. What is known as the Society of
Rosicrucians (Rosenkreuzer) was really a number of isolated
individuals who early in the 17th century held certain views
in common (which apparently was their only bond of union);
for of a society holding meetings, and having officers, there is
no trace. So far as the numerous works are concerned it is
evident that the writers who posed as Rosicrucians were moral
and religious reformers, and utilized the technicalities of
chemistry (alchemy), and the sciences generally, as media
through which to make known their opinions, there being a
flavour of mysticism or occultism promotive of inquiry and
suggestive of hidden meanings discernible or discoverable
only by adepts.
The publication of the Allgemeine und General-Reformation der ganzen weiten Welt (Cassel, 1614), and the Fama Fraternitatis (Cassel, 161 5) by the theologian Johann Valentin Andrea (1586–1654), caused immense excitement throughout Europe, and they not only led to many re-issues, but were followed by numerous pamphlets, favourable and otherwise, whose authors generally knew little, if anything, of the real aims of the original author, and doubtless in not a few cases amused themselves at the expense of the public. It is probable that the first work was circulated in MS. about 1610, for it is said that a reply was written in 1612 (according to Herder), but if so, there was no mention of the cult before that decade. The authors generally favoured Lutheranism as opposed to Roman Catholicism. Others, like John Heydon, admitted they were not Rosicrucians, but under attractive and suggestive titles to their works sought to make Hermeticism and other curious studies more useful and popular, and succeeded, for a time at least.
The curious legend, in which the fabulous origin of the so-called society was enshrined (that a certain Christian Rosenkreuz had discovered the secret wisdom of the East on a pilgrimage in the 15th century), was so improbable, though ingenious, that the genesis of the Rosicrucians was generally overlooked or ignored, but the worthy objects of the fratres were soon discovered and supported by several able men; the result being a mass of literature on the subject, which absorbs some 80 pages of Gardner's Catalogue Raisonné of Works on the Occult Sciences (London, 1903).
The influence that Rosicrucianism had in the modernizing of ancient Freemasonry early in the 18th century must have been slight, if any though it is likely that as the century advanced, and additional ceremonies were grafted on to the first three degrees, Rosicrucian tenets were occasionally introduced into the later rituals. So far, however, as the real foundation ceremonies of Craft Masonry are concerned, whether before or after the premier Grand Lodge was formed, it is most unlikely that such a society as the Freemasons would adopt anything of a really distinctive character from any other organization.
In The Muses' Threnodie by H. Adamson (Perth, 1638) are the
lines—
“ For what we do presage is riot in grosse,
For we are brethren of the Rosie Crosse;
We have the Mason Word and second sight,
Things for to come we can fortell aright."
Dr Begemann considers that possibly during the decade from 1720 to 1730 a kind of Rosicrucian or Hermetic influence took place in the lodges of London, some additions to the ritual of that period not having been derived from operative masonry; but in the previous century no such influence is traceable. Several modern societies have been formed from time to time (some of which are still flourishing in Great Britain) for the study of Rosicrucianism and allied subjects, but in no sense are they directly derived from the “ Brethren of the Rosy Cross " of the 17th century, though keen followers thereof. By far the most important of these is the “ Societas Rasicruciana in Anglia,” with headquarters in London. The Supreme Magus, Dr William Wynn Westcott, has written its History (1900), with other important works on the subject, and the published Transactions of the Society are most valuable.
The Rosicrucians, their Rites and Mysteries, by Hargrave Jennings (three editions, 1870–1871; The Real History of the Rosicrucians, founded on their own Manifestoes and on Facts and Documents collected from the Writings of Initiated Brethren, by A. E. Waite (1887); and The Arcane Schools, by John Yarker (1909), may be consulted with advantage, though not authorized publications of the Society. (W. J. H.*)
ROSIN (a later variant of “ resin, ” q.v.) or COLOPHONY (Colophonia
resina, resin from Colophon in Lydia), the resinous
constituent of the oleo-resin exuded by various species of pine,
known in commerce as crude turpentine. The separation of
the oleo-resin into the essential oil-spirit of turpentine and
common rosin is effected by distillation in large copper stills.
The essential oil is carried off at a heat of between 2120 and
316° F., leaving fluid rosin, which is run off through a tap
at the bottom of the still, and purified by passing through a
straining wadding. Rosin varies in colour, according to the
age of the tree whence the turpentine is drawn and the amount
of heat applied in distillation, from an opaque almost pitchy
black substance through grades of brown and yellow to an
almost perfectly transparent colourless glassy mass. The
commercial grades are numerous, ranging by letters from
A, the darkest, to N, extra pale, -superior to which are W,
“window glass, ” and WW, “water white” varieties, the
latter having about three times the value of the common qualities.
Rosin is a brittle and friable resin, with a faint piny
odour; the melting-point varies with different specimens,
some being semi-fluid at the temperature of boiling water,
while others do not melt till 2200 or 250° F. It is soluble in
alcohol, ether, benzene and chloroform. Rosin consists mainly
of abietic acid, and combines with caustic alkalis to form
salts (rosin ates or pinates) that are known as “ rosin soaps.”
In addition to its extensive use in soap-making, rosin is largely
employed in making inferior varnishes, sealing-wax and various
cements. It is also used for preparing shoemaker's wax, as
a flux for soldering metals, for pitching lager beer casks, for
rosining the bows of musical instruments and numerous minor
purposes. In pharmacy it forms an ingredient in several
plasters and ointments. On a large scale it is treated by
destructive distillation for the production of rosin spirit,
pinoline and rosin oil. The last enters into the composition
of some of the solid lubricating greases, and is also used as an
adulterant of other oils.
The chief region of rosin production, is the South Atlantic and Eastern Gulf states of the United States. American rosin is obtained from the turpentine of the swamp pine, Pinus austral is, and of the loblolly pine, P. T aeda. The main source of supply in Europe is the “landes ” of the departments of Gironde and Landes in France, where the cluster pine, P. Pinaster, is extensively cultivated. In the north of Europe rosin is obtained from the Scotch hr, P. sylvestris, and throughout European countries local supplies are obtained from other species of pine,
