Am'j3^\w™-}       Rhubarb  and  Rheum  Officinale,  313 
Like  other  oriental  products,  rhubarb  appears  to  have  been  confined 
principally  to  land  routes,  hence  the  very  high  price  of  the  drug.  Ac- 
cording to  Leber,  in  1542,  a  pound  of  cloves  cost  3  livres,  pepper  15 
-sols.,  but  rhubarb  18  livres  15  sols.,  whilst  saffron  was  only  4  livres  10 
sols.    In  Ulm,  in  1596,  rhubarb  was  of  higher  value  than  opium. 
In  the  seventeenth  century,  also,  according  to  a  contemporary  notice, 
rhubarb  reached  Europe  by  the  same  different  routes  w  across  the  In- 
dian Ocean,  through  the  Kingdom  of  Cascar  (Kashgar),  through  Tar- 
tary,  Astrachan  and  through  Russia,  or  to  Moscow,  and  finally  through 
the  Kingdom  of  Thibet,  Mogor  and  Persia." 
Holland,  Smyrna  and  Constantinople  became  emporiums  for  rhu- 
barb, so  that  not  only  Russian  or  Muscovitic,  but  also  Holland  and 
Turkish  rhubarbs  were  spoken  of.  Gradually  this  trade  was  diverted 
into  other  courses.  Russia  entered  into  treaties  with  China,  and  the 
commerce  between  the  two  great  empires  was  concentrated  at  the 
market  of  Kiachta,  in  Southern  Siberia.  The  good  rhubarb  henceforth 
took  its  way  through  Siberia  and  Russia,  whilst  only  the  poorer  sorts 
were  brought  for  export  to  Canton,  the  only  port  in  China  at  that  time 
open.  The  further  changes  that  the  commerce  in  rhubarb  have  under- 
gone have  been  described  elsewhere.1 
Professor  Fluckiger  then  proceeds  to  glance  at  the  more  recent 
notices  which  have  appeared  concerning  the  countries  in  which  rhu- 
barb is  collected.  The  famous  description  of  the  Jesuit  mission  only 
states  that  the  native  country  of  the  principal  kind  of  rhubarb  was  the 
province  of  Se-tschueu  (Suitschuan) ;  also  the  snow  mountains  from 
Sue-cheu  to  Leang-tcheou  ;  and,  lastly,  Thibet,  where,  however,  only 
a  poorer  root  was  found.  Father  J.  B.  der  Halde,  to  whom  we  owe 
this  information,  bases  it  upon  the  testimony  of  eye  witnesses,  who  do 
not,  however,  appear  to  have  given  any  special  attention  to  rhubarb. 
More  trustworthy  information  is  given  in  an  account  of  a  journey 
from  Pekin  to  Sz'tshwan  (Oct.,  1871  to  May,  1872)  by  F.  V.  Richtofcn, 
who  mentions  that  amongst  the  products  of  the  province  of  Sz'tshwan 
(or  Sui-tschuan,  at  the  head  of  the  great  Kiang  river)  the  rhubarb  grows 
wild  only  an  the  highest  hills.  The  central  line  of  its  occurrence  runs 
through  the  Bayanksra  range  (southwest  of  the  salt  sea  of  Koko-nor), 
where  the  yellow  river  (Hwangho)  takes  its  rise.  From  this  range  the 
rhubarb  extends  through  the  highlands  north  and  south.    In  the  south 
1 "  Pharmacographia,"  pp.  443-445. 
