3 1 4  Rhubarb  and  Rheum  Officinale.       }  Am)l^'J7^rm' 
it  occurs  on  the  hills  in  the  more  immediate  neighborhood  of  Kwan- 
hien,  but  the  better  sorts  begin  first  ten  or  twelve  days'  journey  further 
north. 
The  principal  markets  for  rhubarb  are  Sining-fu  (just  as  in  Marco 
Polo's  time)  in  Kansu  and  Kwanhien  in  Sz'tshwan.  That  which  comes 
from  the  first  named  place  is  known  as  Schensi  rhubarb,  and  obtains 
the  highest  price,  notwithstanding  that  the  inhabitants  of  Sz'tshwan  are 
convinced  that  they  produce  a  better  sort.  In  the  western  part  of  the 
plain  of  Tshing-tu-fu  a  kind  of  rhubarb  is  cultivated  in  the  fields  ;  but 
it  is  far  inferior  to  the  wild  plant  which  does  not  allow  of  cultivation, 
and  resembles  that  which  is  produced  in  the  frontier  hills  between  Sz' 
tshwan,  Hupe  and  Shensi. 
Evidently,  therefore,  the  rhubarb  plant  is  distributed  through  an 
immense  tract  of  country  in  the  central  provinces  of  China  ;  it  is  con- 
sequently quite  possible  that  several  species  yield  the  same  drug. 
Von  Richthofen's  statement  that  the  best  sorts  are  obtained  from 
wild  plants  is  remarkable,  as  formerly  it  was  generally  accepted  that 
the  plants  were  cultivated.  The  contradiction  is  probably  explained  in 
a  letter  received  by  Collin1  from  the  missionary  Biet  in  1871,  accord- 
ing to  which  the  rhubarb  plant  succeeds  best,  at  any  rate  in  Upper 
Thibet,  in  the  land  richly  manured  by  cattle  surrounding  the  mountain 
huts  and  stables.  The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  Rumex  alpinus^  so 
nearly  allied  to  the  species  of  Rheum,  in  the  mountains  of  Germany, 
where  it  grows  most  luxuriantly  in  such  land,  although  it  is  not  the  sub- 
ject of  special  culture. 
In  1870,  the  apostolic  vicar  Chauveau  reported  from  Thibet  that 
the  export  of  rhubarb  from  that  land  had  almost  ceased,  and  that  no- 
body cultivated  it.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  principal  seat  of  the 
rhubarb  production  must  be  considered  still  to  lie  in  regions  mentioned 
in  the  middle  ages.  The  natural  central  point  for  its  export  is  the  city 
of  Hankow  in  the  province  of  Hupe,  on  the  upper  Kiang,  or  Yan-tse- 
Kiang.  Nevertheless,  the  yearly  export  from  Hankow  to  Shanghai 
does  not  exceed  250,000  kilos,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  general  con- 
sumption of  the  drug  is  falling  off. 
From  the  foregoing,  Professor  Fluckiger  draws  the  following  con- 
clusions : 
luDes  Rhubarbes"  (Paris,  1871),  p.  24- 
