Polygonee.] THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS. 317 
coloured and more compact in structure. Rhubarb is, in India, commonly denomi- 
nated rewund-cheenee (rivend-tchini in Persia, Chardin), with rawund assigned as its 
Arabic, and reon (yoy) as its Greek name. The above are evidently the rewund of 
Avicenna, and the raued-seni of the translators of Mesue. Three kinds are described 
in Persian works on Materia Medica. 1. Cheenee ;. 2. Khorassanee; 3. Hindee. / 
The roots of Rhubarb we have seen to be pretty uniform in secreting the peculiar 
principle, called Rhabarbarin, possessing properties which make them useful as _pur- 
gative medicines; but these are also accompanied by astringent properties, while the stalks 
secrete acid, chiefly acetic and tartaric, with oxalate of lime (Fée), oxalic acid (Turner); 
this is most fully developed in Sorrel (Rumew Acetosa and Acetosella), while the astringent 
principle, dependent on the presence of gallic acid and tannin, in many of the roots of 
the Polygonez, is most fully secreted in Coccoloba uvifera, and ‘‘ so powerful as to 
rival gum kino in its effects.” (Lindley.) Some of the Polygonums are, however, acrid, 
as P. Hydropiper and acre, and others, as P. tinctorium, chinense, and barbatum, yield 
a blue dye like indigo, in Cochin-china, China, and Japan. The albumen of Polygonee 
being farinaceous, and in some considerably developed, has been used for food, as 
Buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum, and tataricum, cultivated in many parts of Europe, - 
and in the Himalayas with P.emarginatum. The two first are no doubt originally 
inhabitants of the mountains of Central Asia, and- were first known in Europe under 
the name of ‘‘ frumentum Sarracenicum.” Both are much cultivated in Russia and 
Siberia; the first is usually preferred th other parts of Europe, but the second grows 
in every soil, and requires less time ;. Professor De Candolle says it is preferred to 
F. esculentum in Piedmont in the Luzerne valley, because it ripens quicker, and therefore 
in late years, and at higher elevations in the Alps. In the Himalayas, Fagopyrum 
esculentum (phaphra and kooltoo of the natives) is also most commonly cultivated, but 
F. emarginatum (ogla) which comes very near the Linnean specimens of F. tataricum, 
is preferred in higher and drier climates, as in Kunawur. Thus the more closely 
we examine the distribution of plants and the agriculture of different couritries, the 
nearer do we observe the correspondence in practical results among those which 
participate in the same peculiarities of climate; and we cannot but admire the bounty 
of Nature which affords even in what appear sterile wastes, some article fitted for the 
food of man, and suited to the climate, with others which are adapted for commerce, 
as Buckwheat, Borax, Musk, and Rhubarb, from the three kingdoms of Nature, in 
the cold, bleak, and arid plains and mountains of Tatary. 
Polygonum vaccinifolium. Wall. Pl. As. Rar. iii. p. 54.—Tab. 80. fig. 2. 
P. Brunonis. Wall. 1. .—Tab. 80. fig. 3. 
~ Ruri Himatenses. 
* racemis paniculatis. 
Wall.—R. Australe. Don. Fl. Nep. p. 75. Sweet's British Flower Garden. Ic. 270. 
Rheum Emodi. 
R. Webbianum ; 
Garden may be expected to afford a very valuable remedy, which is less disagreeable to take than the best 
Turkey Rhubarb, nearly equally efficacious as a purge, and very superior in small doses as a tonic and 
astringent in profluvia.”— Trans. Med. and Physic: Soc. of Calcutta. Vol. iii. p 441. 
