154     GROWTH  AND  PREPARATION  OF  RHUBARB  IN  CHINA. 
some  valuable  Chinese  books,  from  which  I  extracted  the  facts 
which  I  have  recorded  at  page  269  of  Pereira's  "  Manual  of 
Materia  Medica."  This  information  respecting  the  various 
localities  of  the  rhubarb  plant  was  sufficiently  interesting  to  in- 
duce me  to  make  further  inquiries  through  the  same  channel. 
Mr.  Lockhart  undertook  to  convey  my  wishes  to  China,  and  if 
possible  to  obtain  either  the  leaf,  flower,  or  fruit  of  the  plant 
itself.  He  failed  to  obtain  these,  as,  like  others,  he  had  often 
tried  and  failed  before  ;  but  he  procured  from  the  Rev.  Griffith 
John,  a  missionary  residing  at  Hankow,  the  following  extracts 
from  the  "  Pun-tsau,"  or  Chinese  Herbal,  which,  as  well  as  the 
"Pieh-luh,"  which  it  quotes,  is  a  work  of  good  authority.  Wu- 
pu,  Tau-hung-king,  Kung,  Su-sung,  and  Sung-ki  are  Chinese 
writers.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  John  for  the  translation.  The 
notes  are  added  by  Mr.  Lockhart. 
I  give  the  extracts  from  the  "  Pun-tsau  "  exactly  as  I  received 
them,  that  they  may  be  available  to  others  as  well  as  myself; 
but  to  make  them  more  intelligible  I  have  subsequently  re- 
arranged and  condensed  them,  and  have  finally  drawn  from  them 
a  few  conclusions. 
Extract  from  the  "Pun-tsau" 
1.  In  the  "  Pieh-luh  "  it  is  stated  that  rhubarb  grows  in  valleys 
west  of  the  Yellow  River,  and  in  the  district  of  Lung-si,  in  the 
province  of  Shen-si.  The  root  is  extracted  in  the  second  and 
the  eighth  months,  and  dried  by  means  of  artificial  heat. 
2.  Wu-pu  says  :  As  to  the  rhubarb  which  grows  in  Si-chwan 
(Sz-chuen),  and  probably  Lung-si,  in  the  second  month*  its  closed 
leaves  are  of  a  deep  yellowish  color,  and  its  stalk  is  more  than 
3  feet  (Chinesef)  high.  In  the  third  month  the  flower  is  yellow  ; 
in  the  fifth  month  the  seed  is  black  ;  and  in  the  eighth  month 
the  root  is  extracted.  The  root,  which  contains  a  yellowish  sap, 
is  cut  up  in  slices,  and  dried  in  the  shade  (i.  e.  without  either  sun 
or  artificial  heat.) 
3.  Tau-hung-king  says  that  the  Si-chwan  rhubarb  is  not  equal 
in  quality  to  that  of  Lung-si  in  Shen-si ;  that  it  is  very  bitter  in 
*  The  Chinese  months  are  lunar,  the  first  beginning  in  February  or 
March. — L. 
f  The  Chinese  foot  is  about  13  inches.    It  varies  from  12£  to  14. — L. 
