RHEUM 267 



Dr. Waldbott and Prof. Heyroth. References thereto 

 are recorded in the contribution of Dr. Dohme 

 (Proc. Amer. Pharm. Assn., 1897, pp. 193-202), en- 

 titled "The Chemistry of Cascara Sagrada," together 

 with references to works of previous investigators. 

 Dr. Dohme's results are not susceptible of satisfactory 

 condensation, especially as he includes and contrasts 

 therewith constituents obtained from buckthorn. In 

 1898, in connection with Dr. Hermann Engelhardt, 

 Dr. Dohme continued the study of cascara sagrada, 

 under the title "The Bitter Principle of Cascara Sa- 

 grada," announcing that it was but a preliminary con- 

 tribution that would be continued in the future. (See 

 ^Proc. Amer. Pharm. Assn., 1898, p. 340, 341). Although 

 our study is restricted to crude drug history, the inno- 

 vation made in the direction of the articles by Dr. 

 Dohme concerning the structures of these two drugs 

 cannot come amiss to one concerned in the subject as a 

 whole. 1 



RHEUM (Rhubarb) 



Official in all editions of the U. S. P., from 1820 to 1910. 

 The 1910 edition makes official the rhizome and roots of Rheum 

 ojficinale. Rheum palmatum and variety tanguticum, and prob- 

 ably "other species of Rheum grown in China and Thibet." 



Rheum officinale, rhubarb, is a gift of the Chinese, 

 who from all times have used it in domestic practice, as 

 noted in the herbal Pen-king, (about 2700 B. C., Dy- 

 mock), probably the production of the Emperor Shen- 

 nung, the "father of Chinese agriculture and medicine." 

 (Fliickiger). As exported from its home in China, it 

 has been known respectively as Russian, Turkish and 

 Chinese rhubarb, in accordance with the country 



1 See "Monographs from the Research Laboratory of Sharp and Dohme, The History, 

 Pharmacognosy, and Chemistry of Cascara Sagrada." 



