The Chinese rhubarb is inferior to that of Russia and Turkey.  The price varies in China from 38 dollars per picul upwards, and about 1,500 piculs are annually exported, on an average at 50 dollars per picul.  In 1844, 2,077 piculs were shipped from Canton for Great Britain; and of 95,701 lbs. imported in 1841, 43,640 lbs. were brought from China, 8,349 lbs. from the Philippines, 7,290 lbs. from the East Indies, and 33,710 lbs. from the United States; only 1,462 lbs. were brought from Russia.  The imports from the East Indies have decreased more than 70 per cent. in the last twelve years, as compared with the preceding.  The wholesale prices are, for round rhubarb, 8d. to 3s. per lb.; flat, 6d. to 3s. 3d. per lb.; Dutch trimmed, 6s. to 7s. per lb.; Russian, 13s. to 13s. 6d. per lb.

In 1831, we imported 133,462 lbs. from the East India Company’s possessions, and 6,901 lbs. from Russia.  In 1843, only 71,298 lbs. came from the East.  From China we received, in 1843, 172,882 lbs.

The quantities of rhubarb on which duty of 1s. per lb. was paid in the six years ending 1840, were as follows;—­

East Indian.          Foreign.
lbs.               lbs.
1835           32,515             10,647
1836           36,836              7,752
1837           44,669              5,946
1838           37,026              7,402
1839           22,575             12,525
1840           16,745             22,203

The imports and consumption of rhubarb are thus stated in the Pharmaceutical Journal:—­

Imports.        Consumption.
lbs.            lbs.
1826       102,624         32,936
1831       140,395         40,124
1836       122,142         44,468
1841        95,701         67,877
1846       427,694           —­
1847       305,736           —­
1848       116,005           —­
1849        94,914           —­

The rhubarb brought into Siberia grows wild in Chinese Tartary, especially in the province Gansun, on hills, heaths, and meadows, and is generally gathered in summer from plants of six years of age.  “When the root is dug up, it is washed to free it from earthy particles; peeled, bored through the centre, strung on a thread, and dried in the sun.  In autumn all the dried rhubarb collected in the province is brought in horsehair sacks, containing about 200 lbs., to Sinin (the residence of the dealers), loaded on camels, and sent over Mongolia to Kiachta, and the ports and capital of China.

Sarsaparilla.—­The root of various species of Smilax constitutes the sarsaparilla of the shops.  It is an evergreen climbing undershrub, having whitish green flowers, and grows readily from suckers.  It is a native of the temperate and tropical regions of Asia and America.  The officinal part is the bark, which comes off from the rhizomes.  They are mucilaginous, bitter, and slightly acid.  Sarsaparilla is used in decoction and infusion as a tonic and alterative.  The following are enumerated as sources whence sarsaparilla of various kinds is derived.