RHUBARB. 



'35 



French. Dr. Gros, in a letter to myself, states that on the Boule- 

 vards of Paris, between four and six o'clock, glasses of absinthe are 

 to be seen on every coffee-house table and at all wine-merchants. The 

 workpeople frequently take absinthe. They make what they call Ics 

 tonrnces, each one wishing in his turn to treat his comrades. The middle 

 class and the army drink it more frequently mixed with water, though 

 the latter do not object to it pure, and the Parisian alcohol drinkers take 

 absinthe as a rule. Physiological experiments show that in small doses 

 absinthe causes giddiness, and epilepsy in larger. The mischief which 

 is now being done by this plant is incalculable, and I grow the plant 

 to point it out to my English friends, that they may never use so hurtful 

 a drug in this country. 



Within this century Rhubarb (Rheum, fig. 217) has been introduced 

 as a substitute for fruit when it is scarce. It is a thoroughly English 

 plant, and very few foreigners have ever seen or heard of it. It is in use 

 from Christmas till May, when gooseberries come in, but it may be used 

 later, and for preserving purposes it is 

 better gathered in July and August. It 

 is a delicious vegetal in a tart, but it 

 owes its flavour to oxalic acid, which, 

 although grateful to the palate, is not 

 digestible. The acid exists in the plant 

 as superoxalate of potash, and may be 

 seen in the cells of the plant (fig. 218) 

 by the aid of the microscope. The plant 

 may be propagated by seed, but then 

 either a good or a bad variety may be 

 obtained. For this reason it is generally 



propagated by division of the root from FlG 2l8 _ Raph:desofRhubarl , 

 some approved variety. 



The plant is grown for the stems of its leaves, and the first crop is 



