SELECTED ARTICLES. 
ART. XL VII. — ANALYSIS OF THE ROOT OF RHEUM AUS- 
TRALE, CULTIVATED IN THE VICINITY OF PARIS. By 
M. Ossian Henry. 
The rhubarb root, which is brought to us by commerce 
from various localities, and particularly from Tartary, Persia, 
and China, has been attributed to several species of the genus 
Rheum; whether the plant which furnishes it has really been 
cultivated in these countries, or whether it is introduced into 
them by traffic. — Thus, it had been at first supposed that rhu- 
barb was derived from the Rheum undulatum and compac- 
tum; but by M. Guibourt, who has bestowed considerable 
attention upon its origin, it has been attributed to the Rheum 
palmatum. This opinion seems to be well founded, especially 
as regards the roots which come from Tartary, and which are 
known under the name of Russian rhubarb; it is now the be- 
lief that a large part of the rhubarb which is obtained from 
Persia and China, is to be referred to the Rheum australe. 
Many agriculturalists have endeavoured, within a few years, to 
acclimate in France the different species of Rhubarb, such 
as the compactum, undulatum, rhaponticum and palma- 
tum. There are now establishments in the department of 
Morhiban at Rheumpole, where this cultivation is still going 
on; but as the value of the products is less regarded than their 
quantity, it is to the three first species that attention has been 
more particularly directed. May it not be from this cause 
that, results so little satisfactory have been as yet obtained? 
The Rheum palmatum has also been the object of different 
attempts, not altogether unsuccessful, and from the analyses 
made by M. Guibourt upon the root of this vegetable, it ap- 
