RHUBARB CULTIVATED NEAR BANBURY. 199 
ART. L VII.— QUERIES RESPECTING RHUBARB CULTIVATED 
IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF BANBURY. (ENGLAND.*) 
1. How many persons cultivate rhubarb for medical use 
in the neighborhood of Banbury ? State their names, and 
the number of acres occupied by each person. 
2. For how many years has medical rhubarb been culti- 
vated in that locality ? What number of persons are em- 
ployed in its cultivation and preparation for the market. 
3. Is more than one species cultivated ? If so, how many? 
By what names are they popularly distinguished? Speci- 
mens of all the species cultivated, either fresh or carefully 
dried, should be forwarded. The specimens should include 
root, stem, leaves, flowers and seed. 
4. At what age and in what season is the root dug up 
for medicinal use? What are the uses respectively made 
of the root-stock and root-branches ? Are both employed 
for yielding the medicinal rhubarb of the shops? Is the 
stick English rhubarb prepared from the root-branches ? 
5. Describe the mode of preparing the root for the market; 
including the cleaning, slicing, drying, and other operations. 
Is the root dried at ordinary temperatures in the air, or by 
the aid of artificial heat ? If the latter, is it effected by the 
heat of a stove or a kiln; and at what temperature ? What 
varieties are made of it in commerce, and what are the 
names by which these are known? 
* The following queries and answers respecting English rhubarb 
were given and received by one of the Standing Scientific Committees 
of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. It is probable that 
a similar action on the part of our College would elicit much interest- 
ing information relative to some of our indigenous drugs. The col- 
lection of Seneka, Spigelia, Serpentaria, the cultivation and manufac- 
ture of the Castor bean, and various other subjects, might be illustrat- 
ed by apothecaries resident in the regions where they grow, and such 
information communicated for this Journal would be particularly acc- 
eptable.— W. P., Jr. 
