554  ENGLISH  MEDICINAL  RHUBARB  AND  HENBANE. 
macopoeias  and  dispensatories,  and  thereby  improper,  unsafe,  or 
dangerous  to  be  used  for  medicinal  purposes,  a  return  to  that 
effect  shall  be  made  upon  the  invoice,  and  the  articles  so  noted 
shall  not  pass  the  Customs-house  unless,  on  a  strictly  analytical 
character  called  for  by  the  owner  or  consignee,  the  return  of  the 
examiner  shall  be  found  erroneous."  To  carry  into  effect  the 
provisions  of  this  Act,  qualified  examiners  of  drugs  were  ap- 
pointed, at  salaries  varying  from  one  thousand  to  sixteen  hun- 
dred dollars  per  annum,  at  the  ports  of  New  York,  Boston,  Phil- 
adelphia, Baltimore,  Charleston,  and  New  Orleans. 
A  large  portion  of  my  trimmed  rhubarb  for  several  years 
passed  through  the  hands  of  Messrs.  David  Taylor  &  Sons,  for 
shipment  to  the  American  market,  where  it  became  a  regular 
article  of  commerce. 
From  the  year  1855  to  the  present  period  the  demand  for 
English  rhubarb  has  far  exceeded  my  means  of  supplying  it ; 
and  the  ratio  in  which  the  increasing  demand  is  taking  place  far 
exceeds  the  propagating  capacity  of  the  plant.  The  period 
when  the  rapidly  increasing  demand  for  export  took  place  was 
that  immediately  succeeding  the  investigation  of  the  question  by 
a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  during  the  sessions  of 
1855  and  1856.  It  will  be  recollected  that  a  committee  was 
appointed,  of  which  Mr.  W.  Scholefield,  member  for  Birming- 
ham, was  chairman,  to  invest  the  question  of  adulteration  of  food, 
drink,  and  drugs.  During  the  sitting  of  this  committee  a  large 
number  of  witnesses  were  examined  on  the  question  of  English 
rhubarb,  with  varying  results  as  to  the  individual  opinion  of  the 
parties  examined.  Some,  amongst  whom  may  be  named  Dr. 
Hassall,  contended  it  was  practicable  to  carry  out  a  system  of 
absolute  purity  in  drugs  and  chemicals  ;  whilst  others,  with 
equally  practical  views,  contended  that  a  classification  as  to  the 
quality  of  those  articles  must  always  exist.  I  need  scarcely  say 
that  the  evidence  adduced  on  the  question  of  the  adulteration  of 
drugs,  as  of  other  things,  was  very  conflicting  a^d  inconclusive. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  second  session  occupied  by  the 
committee  in  this  investigation  I  was  summoned,  on  the  5th  of 
March,  1856,  to  give  evidence  on  the  long-vexed  question  of 
English  rhubarb ;  but  both  as  regards  my  own  and  the  evidence 
