White or Imperial Rhubarb. By Dr. Gt. W alpers'.-—In all works
on Pharmacology there occurs a somewhat vague account of a very su-
perior kind of rhubarb, said to be collected for the sole and particular
use of the Imperial Court of St. Petersburgh, and distinguished by the
name of White or Imperial Rhubarb (Radix Rhei alba seu imperialist)
It is described as a rhubarb root in which the white portion so far pre-
dominates that only a few red streaks are perceptible upon the surface
of a transverse section. No one, however, is from personal knowledge
acquainted with this species of rhubarb. In order to put an end to these
doubts, I some time since addressed a letter to Mr. Buchner, Chief
Apothecary to the Imperial Court, begging him for a small specimen of
this <l Imperial Rhubarb” for my pharmacological collection, or should
the communication of this precious drug be inadmissible, that I might
at least have an authentic description of it. Mr. Buchner replied to this
request with the utmost promptitude, informing me that, after having
instituted the most careful inquiries, it appeared that no such species of
rhubarb had at any time been imported for the Imperial family ; that
it had never occurred in commerce ; and, finally, that in neither any
public or private collection in St. Petersburgh was there to be found a
specimen of this (consequently mythical) root.—Bonplandia, for March
15, 1853.
[It was the Russian traveller, Pallas, who first drew attention to the
so-called White Rhubarb. We extract from his works the passage re-
lating to it : u J’ai vu pendant mon sejour a Kiakta des petits morceaux
de rhubarbe blancs comme du lait. Elie est douce au gout, et a les
memes proprietes que celle de la meilleure qualite. L’apothecaire se
proposoit de trier tons ces morceaux, et de les envoyer separement a
Petersburg pour la pharmacie de la Cour/— Voyages de M. P. 8.
Pallas, en difftrentes, Provinces de I’Empire de Eussie, et dans I’Asie
Septentrionale, traduits de I’ Allemand. Paris, 4to, 1793, tome iv. p.
219.—Ed. N. Y. Ph. Journ.~\