49* 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. 



| China. 



running clear and beautiful. That which is of a livid colour, and does 

 not readily separate into globules, or which has the appearance of a pellicle 

 on its surface, from dust or greasiness, after being strained through leather, 

 should be rejected. 



20 Cwt. of quicksilver are allowed to a ton. 



Rhubarb {Revand Ck'mi y Hind.) is an oblong tapering root of the 

 Rheum Pahnatnm, cultivated in China, likewise in the Russian dominions 

 in Tartary : the latter is called Turkey rhubarb, because it formerly came 

 to us from Turkey, but may more properly be called Russian or Tar- 

 tarian rhubarb. That imported from China is in pieces of 4, 5, or 6 

 inches in length, and 3 or 4 in diameter at the top ; it is of a smooth 

 even surface, moderately heavy, but not hard ; externally of a yellow 

 colour, with an admixture of brown ; internally variegated with lively 

 reddish streaks, forming a marbled appearance when cut. The yellow 

 is the ground colour, and the red is disposed in short irregular veins, 

 much in the manner of nutmegs. The Chinese are very careful in their 

 method of drying it. They take up the root only in winter, or early 

 in the spring, before the leaves begin to appear; they cut it into such 

 pieces as they think proper, and lay it on a table in a shady place, 

 turning it once or twice a day for two or three days ; after this they 

 string the pieces on a cord, at a distance from each other, and hang them 

 up in a shady place, that they may dry leisurely. It is by this manage- 

 ment the rhubarb is rendered so firm and solid as we find it; for if it were 

 hung up to dry at once in a warm airy place, it would become light and 

 spongy. They say also, that if the root be taken up in the summer, it is 

 not only light and of little value, but that it has nothing of the reddish 

 marbling, which is one of the great characters of its goodness. Sometimes 

 the root is cut down the middle, and afterwards divided into pieces of 4 or 

 5 inches in length, which appear flat, and dry better than the round. For 

 some time past flat rhubarb has sold considerably better than round of the 

 same goodness. 



Rhubarb is not so often adult crated as damaged. To be good, it 

 should be particularly dry and sound ; if it be wet or rotten, it is wortldess. 

 By long keeping, it frequently grows mouldy and worm-eaten, and some- 

 times the worm-holes are filled with mixtures, and the outride of the 

 damaged pieces coloured with the powder of fine rhubarb, or some cheaper 

 materials. The marks of the goodness of rhubarb are, the liveliness of its 

 colour when cut ; its being firm and solid, but not flinty or hard ; its being 

 easily pulverable, and appearing, when powdered, of a fine bright yellow 

 colour; its imparting to the spittle, on being chewed, a deep saffron tinge; 



