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OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



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461 



and this, or the officinal plant. On this account, some are 

 of opinion that the true drug is obtained from several species. 

 The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, 

 and Commerce, has exerted itself for many years in promct- 

 in"- the cultivation of Rhubarb, and with considerable suc- 

 cess. The growth of this plant is remarkably quick : a plant 

 six years old grew between the month of April, when the 

 stalk first emerged out of the ground, and the middle of July, 

 when it was in its greatest height, to eleven feet four inches. 

 It grew in one'day above three inches, and above four inches 

 in a single night. Many of the leaves were above five feet 

 long. The root, taken up in October, weighed thirty-six 

 pounds, when clean washed, and deprived of its small fibres. 

 It appears, however, upon the whole, that English Rhubarb 

 is inferior to the foreign; though it is possible that this 

 inferiority may be owing only to the circumstances which 

 industry and attention might remedy; and that this might be 

 done in a great measure, by attending to the age of the plant 

 when taken up, to the root being cut transversely, rasped on 

 the outside, having the sappy parts cut out, being also dried 

 quickly, and kept some time before brought into use. The 

 foreign Rhubarb may acquire some advantage from soil, 

 climate, culture, and the mode of drying, but probably much 

 more from its superior age; for Bergius asserts, that it is not 

 taken up till it is six years old. The following are some of 

 the rather contradictory results of comparative experiments 

 upon the Turkey, East Indian, and English Rhubarbs. The 

 tincture from the Turkey sort tasted rather more aromatic 

 than the rest, and seemed to possess a somewhat higher 

 degree of astringency than the East Indian, which also 

 exceeded the tinctures made from English specimens in the 

 same quality. From one experiment, it appears that the 

 East Indian kind is the weakest purgative, although that is 

 the drug generally used in making the tincture sold in trK 

 shops. Two experiments prove that the English Rhubarb 

 possesses the purgative power in a superior degree. From 

 another experiment, it appears that forty-five grains of Tur- 

 key Rhubarb contains the purgative quality nearly equal to 

 sixty of the English ; that is, the latter requires to be given 

 to the amount of one-fourth more, to produce the same efifoct. 

 This account, which may be found in Vol. iii. of the Bath 

 Papers, coincides in effect with the result of former expe- 

 riments; but later comparisons prove that English Rhubarb 

 approaches nearer in proportion to its age. On the whole, 

 there seems much reason to believe that by perseverance 

 vre may be enabled not only to supply a sufficient quantity 

 of the genuine drug, properly cured for home consumption, 

 but also for foreign markets. It is objected, that we must 

 wait at least four years, or, as some think, six or seven, be- 

 fore the roots become fit for use ; but it is important to know 

 the fact, that it may be administered with success when 

 young_er, in its fresh state, (that is, undried,) by bruising half 

 an ounce of the root, and boiling it in half a pint of water 

 till it is reduced to one quarter of a pint. The superseding 

 the present necessity of importing this drug from abroad, is a 

 consideration of no small importance at all times, but especi- 

 ally when we consider the scarcity which we felt whenever the 

 ports of Russia and Turkey were unexpectedly closed against 

 us. The purgative qualities of Rhubarb are extracted more 

 >erfectly by water than by spirit: the root remaining after 

 the action of water is almost, if not wholly inactive ; whereas, 

 after repeated digestion in spirit, it still proves very consider- 

 ably purgative. The quality of the watery infusion, on being 

 inspissated by a gentle heat, is so much diminished, that a 

 drachm of the extract is said scarcely to have more effect 

 ' ,an a scruple of the root in substance : the spirituous tinc- 



al 



1 



ture loses less ; half a drachm of this extract proving mode- 

 rately purgative. The purgative quality of this root is so 

 gentle, that it is often inconvenient on account of the quan- 

 tity necessary for a dose, which in adults must be from half 

 drachm to one drachm. When given in a large dose it 

 will occasion some gripings, as other purgatives do ; but it is 

 hardly ever heating to the system, or produces the effects of 

 more drastic purges. Its purgative quality is accompanied 

 by a bitterness, which is often useful in restoring the tone of 

 the stomach ; for the most part, this bitterness makes it sit 

 better on the stomach than many other purgatives. Its ope- 

 ration joins well with neutral laxatives, and both together 

 operate in a less dose than either of them would do singly. 

 Some degree of stypticity is always evident in this medicine; 

 and as this quality acts when that of the purgative has ceased, 

 in cases of diarrhoea, when any evacuation is proper, Rhu- 

 barb has been considered as the most proper means to be 

 employed. The use of it in substance, for keeping the belly 

 regular, is by no means proper, the astringent quality undoing 

 what the purgative had done ; unless it be chewed in the 

 mouth, and no more swallowed than what the saliva has dis- 

 solved. Analogous to this, is the use of Rhubarb in a solu- 

 tion ; for in that, the astringent quality is not so largely 

 extracted as to operate with a power equal to that employed 

 in substance. The officinal preparations from this drug 

 are, a watery and vinous infusion, and a simple and com- 

 pound tincture. The Rhubarb which is of a bright or light 

 texture, moist, fragrant, and sound, should be made choice 

 of, as being milder in its operation, more grateful to the sto- 

 mach, and more likely to answer the purpose of an Astringent, 

 a diuretic, or an alterative. In acute fevers, when there 

 is danger to be apprehended from the use of other purging 

 medicines, Rhubarb is safe. In the bloody flux, and those 

 loosenesses which are occasioned by acrid matter lodged in 

 the intestines, this root is doubly useful first, by evacuating 

 and carrying off the offending matter; and, secondly, by 

 strengthening the parts, and preventing a further afflux. It 

 likewise possesses the peculiar excellency of evacuating viscid 

 bile, when lodged in the biliary ducts or passages ; in which 

 cases it is the best among purging medicines, Aloes excepted ; 

 and it has this advantage over them, that it may be given 

 when inflammation is attendant, provided bleeding is first 

 premised. The spirituous and vinous tincture of it, kept in 

 the shops, are generally used as strengtheners or purgatives : 

 for the first of these purposes, two or three spoonfuls is a 

 sufficient dose at a time; but for the latter, two or three 

 ounces is frequently necessary. This root may probably be 

 useful, not only as a medicine, but a dye, as may appear from 

 the following trial. Infuse a portion of the root in water ; 

 and to the infusion, when strained, add a few grains of salt of 

 tartar: this will produce a very beautiful red tincture, such 

 as would be valuable for the purposes of dyeing a colour, 

 which probably might be amply provided for by the general 

 cultivation of this root. Not only the root, but other parts 

 of the plant, are useful. At Versailles, the recent stem is 

 converted into a marmalade, which is considered as a mild, 

 pleasant, and highly salubrious laxative. They prepare it 

 by stripping off the bark, and boiling the pulp with an equal 

 quantity of houey or sugar. The leaves are also used by 

 the French in their soups, to which they impart an agreeable 

 acidity like that of Sorrel. The seeds possess the same medi- 

 cinal property with the root, in an eminent degree. From 

 the trials of Dr. Fothergill of Bath, it appears that twelve 

 grains of the seeds operate on some persons nearly as much 

 as twenty in others of the same age. On some they act gently, 

 on others roughly ; such is the difference of constitution. In 



