•122 Notices of Books. [Oct. 



duce of either ®r both R. Emodi and Webbianum.* The roots of JR. 

 spiciforme and Moorcroftianum are lighter-coloured and more com- 

 pact in structure. Rhubarb is, in India, commonly denominated rewund- 

 cheenee (rivend-ichini in Persia, Char din), with rawund assigned as its 

 Arabic, and reon (prjov) as its Greek name. The above are evidently 

 the rewund of Avicenna, and the raued-seni of the translators of Mesue. 

 Three kinds are described in Persian works on Materia Medica. 

 1. Cheenee ; 2. Khorassanee ; 3. Hindee. 



" The roots of rhubarb we have seen to be pretty uniform in secreting 

 the peculiar principle, called Rhabarbarin, possessing properties which 

 make them useful as purgative medicines ; but these are also accom- 

 panied by astringent properties, while the stalks secrete acid, chiefly 

 acetic and tartaric, with oxalate of lime (Fee) oxalic acid (Turner) ; 

 this is most fully developed in Sorrel ( Rumex Acetosa and Acetosella J, 

 while the astringent principle, dependent on the presence of gallic acid 

 and tannin, in many of the roots of the Polygonea, is most fully 

 secreted in Coccoloba uvifera, and ' so powerful as to rival gum kino in 

 its effects.' (Lindley). Some of the Polygonums are, however, acrid, 

 as P. Hydropiper and acre, and others, as P. ttnctorium, chinense, and 

 barbatum, yield a blue dye-like indigo, in Cochin-china, China, and 

 Japan. The albumen of PolygonecB being farinaceous, and in some 

 considerably developed, has been used for food, as buckwheat, Fago- 

 pyrum esculent um, and tataricum, cultivated in many parts of Europe, 

 and in the Himalayas with P. emarginatum. The two first are no doubt 

 originally inhabitants of the mountains of Central Asia, and were first 

 known in Europe under the name of 1 frumentum Sarracenicum/ Both 

 are much cultivated in Russia and Siberia ; the first is usually preferred 

 in other parts of Europe, but the second grows in every soil, and 

 requires less time ; Professor JDe Candolla says it is preferred to F. 

 esculentum in Piedmont in the Luzerne valley, because it ripens 

 quicker, and therefore in late years, and at higher elevations in the 

 Alps. In the Himalayas, Fagopyrum esculentum (phaphra and 

 kooltoo of the natives) is also most commonly cultivated, but F. emar- 



* " That the rhubarb of this species is not without some valuable properties, we may 

 learn from Dr. Twining's rep ort on experiments made on forty-three cases in the general 

 hospital of Calcutta, of which the following are extracts : — Dr. T. states, that it has * less 

 aroma and more astringency to the taste than the best Turkey rhubai-b ; in doses of 2 or 

 3 drs. it has a good purgative effect, operating- three or four times, nearly as freely as the 

 best Turkey rhubarb. The effects of small doses of the remedy, as a tonic and astrin- 

 gent, are highly satisfactory, as far as four or five cases can be relied on. In this respect 

 its efficacy appears to be superior to corresponding quantities of the best rhubarb. On 

 the whole, it appears not an eligible remedy in obstinate eostiveness, on account of its 

 aroma and astringency; ' it is not apt to gripe/ ' but it is very efficacious in moderate 

 doses for such cases as rhubarb is generally used to purge ; and its cultivation at the 

 Mussooree garden may be expected to afford a very valuable remedy, which is less disa- 

 greeable to take than the best Turkey rhubarb, nearly equally efficacious as a purge, and 

 very superior in small doses as a tonic and astringent in profluvio. "— ■ Trans, Med. and 

 Physic. Soc. oj Calcutta, vol. iii. p. 441, 



