ENGLISH  MEDICINAL  RHUBARB  AND  HENBANE. 
551 
ward  died  in  1811,  and  the  plants  were  purchased  by  Mr.  P. 
Usher." 
As  a  proof  that  even  at  this  early  period  of  its  cultivation 
English  rhubarb  had  obtained  the  confidence  of  scientific  men,  it 
may  be  stated  that,  in  1798,  rhubarb  of  British  growth  was  used 
at  St.  Bartholomew's,  St.  Thomas's,  and  Guy's  Hospitals,  and 
was  being  experimented  on  at  several  others.  According  to  the 
testimony  of  Sir  Alexander  Dick  and  Dr.  Hope,  of  Edinburgh, 
in  1784,  but  little  rhubarb  was  used  by  the  apothecaries  of  that 
city  but  what  was  produced  in  Scotland,  and  it  was  considered 
in  no  respect  inferior  to  Russian.  About  the  same  time  English 
rhubarb  was  put  to  a  severe  test  at  Bath,  by  Drs.  Falconer, 
Parry,  and  Fothergill,  all  of  whom  attested  its  merits.  Dr.  Fal  * 
coner  remarked  that  two  of  the  specimens  submitted  to  them  an- 
swered in  external  marks  to  the  character  of  the  foreign;  that 
they  were  rather  inferior  in  delicacy  of  taste  to  the  Turkey,  but 
superior  in  other  respects  to  East  India.  In  1810,  Dr.  Thorn- 
ton, then  lecturer  on  botany  at  Guy's  Hospital,  referring  to  the 
encouragement  given  to  the  cultivators  by  the  Society  of  Arts, 
makes  these  remarks  : — ■"  This  account  may  serve  to  show  both 
the  ardor  of  the  respectable  Society  in  encouraging  the  growth 
of  this  useful  article  and  the  persevering  industry  of  some  gen- 
tlemen in  overcoming  all  the  difficulties  attendant  on  introducing 
a  new  plant  into  cultivation' — finding  out  the  means  of  curing  it 
as  an  article  for  extensive  sale,  and  overcoming  the  prejudices  of 
such  as  cannot  persuade  themselves  that  a  drug  of  British 
growth  can  bear  competition  with  what  is  sent  us  from  foreign 
countries." 
If  at  a  later  date  the  prejudice  against  English  rhubarb  having 
increased,  there  must  have  been  other  causes  than  those  existing 
in  the  first  introduction  of  the  plant.  One  cause  of  the  subse- 
quent change  in  public  opinion  may  have  arisen  from  the  partial 
introduction  of  new  varieties  of  the  plant.  From  the  earliest 
period  in  its  history  there  appears  to  have  been  a  confusedness 
in  the  evidence  as  to  its  real  character ;  and  whether  foreign 
rhubarb  is  produced  from  the  Rheum  pdlmatwm  or  the  Rheum 
undulatum,  yet  remains  an  unsettled  question.  As  far  as  this 
question  relates  to  rhubarb  grown  in  Great  Britain,  the  stronger 
