33^ APPENDIX ir. 



befl juices are frequently loft. Thefe roots ought to be 

 ilrawn up in fpring, foon after the melting of the fnows, 

 when the plant retains all its lap and ftrength ; uhereas 

 they are not taken out of the ground before Augull, 

 when they are wafted by the incrcafe of the ftem, and 

 the expanfion of the leaves. Add to thiS;, that the roots 

 are no fooner taken up, than they are immediately fliced 

 in fmall pieces, and thus dried : by which means the 

 medicinal qualities are fenfibly impaired. 



K'5°e Rootr For the fam^ roots, which in this inftance were of 

 pontkum. fuch little efficacy, when dried with proper precaution, 

 have been found to yield a very excellent rhubarb. The 

 procefs obferved for this purpofe, by the ingenious Mr. 

 Pallas, was as follows : The roots, immediately after 

 being drawn out, were fufpended over a ilove, where 

 being gradually dried, they were cleanfed from the 

 earth : by thefe means, although they were a6lually 

 taken up in autumn, they fo nearly refembled the beft 

 Tartarian rhubarb in colour, texture, and purgative qua- 

 lities, that they anfwered^^ in every refi'jecft, the fame 

 medicinal piu-pofes.. 



A German apothecary, named Zuchert, made fimilar 

 trials with the fame fuccefs, both ©n the Rheum Rha- 

 barbarum and R. Rhaponticum, which grow in great 

 Rhuinubiii perfe«5lion on the mountains in the neighbourhood of 

 Nerfliinilc. He formed plant.'itions of thefe herbs on 



&ib«r]a. 



