Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  I 
Jan.,  1878.  J 
Java  Rhubarb. 
31 
JAVA  RHUBARB. 
By  Professor  Husemann. 
Upon  the  Gunung  Unarung  and  other  mountains  in  Java  there  grows, 
at  an  elevation  of  two  to  four  thousand  feet,  a  species  of  Rheum,  the 
root  of  which  forms  an  article  of  commerce,  and  is  used  by  the  Java- 
nese as  a  purgative  under  the  name  of  " akar  kelomba."  Three  varie- 
ties of  this  drug  are  met  with  in  commerce  :  (1)  akar  kelomba  bras,  the 
top  part  of  the  root,  with  fragments  of  stock  still  adhering  ;  (2)  akar 
kelomba  ketan,  the  middle  portion  of  the  root ;  and  (3)  akar  kelomba 
keteba,  the  bottom  portion.  Of  the  three  the  second  named  kind  is 
the  most  valuable,  whilst  the  top  portion  of  the  root,  combined  with 
fragments  of  stalk,  is  of  the  least  value. 
A  detailed  description  of  the  best  kind  of  Java  rhubarb  has  been 
given  by  J.  H.  Schmidt  in  the  "Tydschrift  voor  Nederlandische  Inde" 
{xvii,  p.  98),  according  to  which  the  root  is  fleshy,  and  long  conical, 
or  somewhat  napiform.  In  some  places  it  is  still  covered  with  a  dark- 
brown  rind,  whilst  the  remainder  is  peeled,  and  appears  marbled  with 
white  and  red.  In  a  transverse  section  the  rays  run  from  the  centre 
to  the  circumference,  traversing  the  concentrical  red-colored  rings,  and 
appearing  to  break  off  at  the  cambium,  which  forms  a  dense  dark- 
brown,  resinous  looking  layer,  from  i*i  to  1*5  millimeter  thick.  The 
most  central  concentric  rings  are  bright  red  and  alternate  with  yellow 
ones.  At  the  centre,  in  some  fissures  resulting  from  the  drying,  are 
seen  some  white  felt-like  threads,  having  a  silky  lustre  ;  the  structure 
of  these  can  be  recognized  under  the  microscope.  In  a  longitudinal 
section  are  seen  in  the  centre  the  almost  rectangular  parenchyma  cells, 
partially  filled  with  chrysophanic  acid.  With  the  aid  of  a  glass,  cells 
containing  crystals  of  oxalate  of  lime  can  be  detected. 
The  Java  rhubarb  resembles  the  Chinese  in  smell  and  taste  almost 
completely  ;  but  according  to  some  experiments  made  by  Dr.  v.  Vogel- 
poel  its  activity  is  one-fourth  less. 
In  1874,  Schmidt  brought  under  the  consideration  of  the  Dutch 
East  Indian  government  the  advisability  of  experimenting  whether  it 
was  possible  to  increase  the  activity  of  this  species  of  Rheum  by  culti- 
vation, and  thus  to  obtain  a  drug  equal  to  the  Chinese  rhubarb,  but 
very  much  lower  in  price.  The  plant  appears  to  be  very  abundant  in 
Java,  and  the  best  kind  of  root,  the  akar  kelomba  ketan,  is  sold  there  at 
about  is.  Sd.  per  kilogram.    As  the  therapeutic  value  of  the  Chinese 
