66 NOTICES OF SOME RARE KINDS OF RHUBARB.. 
rhubarb factory at Kiachta, says, that the Russian mer- 
chants barter with the Buchanans for rhubarb in the cus- 
tom house at Kiachta, but that the selection of the crown 
rhubarb is conducted in a house appropriated for that pur- 
pose on the Chinese borders. Now, as all the rhubarb 
offered to the agents of the Russian crown must be burnt 
without remuneration, if not approved of, it is tolerably 
evident that the Buchanans will offer, for the most part? 
such kinds only as are likely to pass examination. The in- 
ferior sorts, therefore, must be got rid of by some other 
channels, namely, by private barter or sale. This is the 
origin, I suspect, of the Bucharian rhubarb which I have 
met with. 
Grassmann, in his account of the varieties of rhubarb 
found in Russian commerce, describes Bucharian rhubarb 
as being darker than the ordinary kind. " It occurs," he 
says, "in heavy, roundish, knobby, perforated pieces, 
weighing seven or eight ounces each, of a more or less 
ochre yellow or brownish colour. Its texture is the same 
as that of genuine rhubarb, its odour strong, its taste bitter- 
ish, astringent, and at the same time mucilaginous ; when 
chewed, it feels gritty under the teeth. The older pieces 
are often hollow and rotten internally. The younger 
pieces have the same shape as the true rhubarb, but they 
fetch only one third the price of the Chinese root." 
3. Siberian Rhubarb. 
Through the kindness of Mr. Faber, I have also received 
specimens of another kind of rhubarb, recently sent by 
another first-rate drug- house at St. Petersburgh to this 
country, under the name of Bucharian rhubarb ; but it dif- 
fers altogether in external appearance from the preceding 
sort. Three chests of it, the whole quantity imported, ar- 
rived in this country in January last, and were sold by 
public sale on the 27th of February, at sixpence per pound. 
It is believed that it was bought for exportation. 
