Medicine

大黃. Rhubarb. The rhubard of commerce, as has been lately discovered, is the root of a species of Rheum, hitherto unknown to botanists. The specimens produced from buds and of the best Tibetan rhubarb, procured in 1867, by Mr. P. Darby, then French Consul in Hankou, have been examined in Europe and are described as Rheum officinale. In former times, Guangzhou (Canton) was the only port from which this drug was exported, but now only a small quantity reaches the port, by sea via Shanghai, to be dried at Guangzhou and then to be re-exported. The varieties known in commerce depend on the age of the roots, the soil, and care used in curing it. The Chinese dig the roots early in spring, before the leaves appear, cut them into long flat pieces, dry them for two or three days in the shade and then string them on cords to dry thoroughly in cool places. Good rhubard is yellowish, of a firm texture, when cut has a lively reddish-white mottled appearance, and is perfectly dry. The taste is bitter and unpleasant, and the smell somewhat aromatic. Possesses cooling, laxative, alterative, stomachic, astringent, emmenagogue, eliminative, deobstruent, and diuretic qualities. From Sichuan province. Value at Ningbo, $27 per picul. Brown slices. One of a collection of samples of Chinese medicine, each in an individual glass jar sealed with cork top.