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* Opinion is, that it grows in Perfia. Mr. Ta-

* vernier, on the other hand, affures us, in' his Book of Travels, that the beft Rhubarb' grows in, and is brought from, the King-c dom of Boutan.

This Root, newly drawn from the Earth,is thick, fibrous, blackilh on the Out-fide,and of a reddifh Colour marbled within : Icbears large and woolly Leaves, from whencearife little Carnation Flowers, refemblingStars ; after which follow the Seed. Chuleyour Rhubarb new, and that which is in fmallPieces flicking together, pretty firm and pon-derous, of an aftringent Tafte, and bitter,the Smell not difgnftful, but rather aroma-tick, and of a yellow Colour, bright on theOut-fide, and lomethirg darker within ; butfuch as, when infus'd in Water, will producea Tindture like that of Saffron, and, whenbruis'd in a Mortar, that the Colour withinbe of a lively reddiih Caft.

Great Virtues are affign'd to this Rhubarb,eipecially for ftrengthening the Stomach, andpurging the Gall with Pleafure, principallyif aflifted with any other Purgative. It isefteem'd likewife very ferviceable for flop-ping of Bioody-Fluxes , and other Loofe-nelfes, either chew'd in the Mouth, or grofslybruis'd, and infus'd in any proper Vehicle ;It is alfo given to Children to deftroy Worms;and, in lhort, is an admirable kindly and fa-lubrious Medicine, as well in Age as Youthand the full Vigour of Years ; in all whichD fference of Age or Circumftance, duly pro-portional and apply'd, it works friendly toNature, and efficacious to the Difeal'e.

Of tie American Rhubarb.

Within thefe few Years we have had fe-veral Sorts of Rlmbarbs introduc'd into ourGardens, which Monfieur de Ttufj, Vice-Roy of the Iflands, brought from the PVeft-Indies into France. It is from thofe Placesthis Rjjubarb comes fo large, that it ap-proaches neareft to the true Rjjubarb of Per-fia : And I have been inform'd they drawfuch a Sort of Rhubarb from the Lands ly-ing along the River Rljone, near Lyons : Se-veral Roots of the fame I have feen whencleans'd and dry'd, differing little or nothingfrom the true Rhubarb.

Several Perfons take this Rliubarb for the

Of ROOTS.

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Pontick., by reafon of their great Likeriefs ;among others, Proffer Alpin brought it fromthe Indies to Padua, tho' there is a good dealof Difference. Upon the whole Matter, thisRhubarb is commonly in Pieces that are al-moft round ; and, on the contrary, the Pon-tick, is in long Pieces. And whereas thisDiftintlion is known but to very few Per-fons, thofe who bring this Sort of Rl-ubarb,wou'd impofe it for the Pontick-

Monks Rhubarb, or that of the Mountains.

The Scarcenefs of Pontick Rhubarb fromthe Levant, hath given leave to fome to fub-ftitute in its room among thofe who have nota perfedf. Knowledge of the other, the Bootsof the Hippolap-ithum or Bafiard Rljubarb, likethe great common round Dock, which manyPeople cultivate in their Gardens ; or there'sanother Kind of Bafiard Rhubarb, which hasgreat Leaves, but lefs round. The Differenceof thefe Rhubarbs are very considerable, forthe Pontickhom the Levant is yellow on theInfide, and ftreiked with red on the Outfide,and the Bafiard Rhubarb is black and jag-ged on the Sides, and yellow on the Outfidewithout any Marbling.

Rliabarbarum, Rheum, in Eng-li(h Rlnibarb, is a thick fungous Root Lemery.which is brought to us dry'd fromPerfia and China where it grows, and fome-times from Turkey,wbich laft is thought by theEnglifh Merchants to be the beft of all, be-ing a Sort of middte-fiz'd Pieces, fmooth,frefh colour'd, and of a mix'd yellow Oaker,of a lively ftrong Smell, firm in cutting, butnot very hard, or crufty, being chew'd, 'r:sof a bittetiiTi fubaftringenr Tafte, giving theSpittle a frefh yellowilh Colour, and a goodFlavour, not very heavy, nor yet fpungy, orhollow, or rotten within. The next Sort ofRiiubarb is that which is fuppcs'd to bebrought from Tartary, Mufcovy, and Ruffia,which is generally large ar.d heavy and morecrufty, though many times very frefh and wellfcented, but nothing near lo good as thatbrought from the Levant.

There are fcveral Kinds of Rj.mba'b, a* theTrue, the Pontick, and the Bafiard: TheTrue is that we have already delcnbed by theName of Rljabarbarum, the Word Rhaiomewill have to come from the Name ot ,aE z River

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