| Imports. lbs. | Consumption. 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.
Smilax China and sagittæfolia, yielding the Chinese root, are said to come from the province of Onansi in China.
S. pseudo China, S. Sarsaparilla, S. rubens, and S. Watsoni, furnish the drug of North America.
The sarsaparilla distinguished in commerce as the Lisbon or Brazilian is the root of S. papyracea of Poiret. It is an undershrub, the stem of which is compressed and angular below, and armed with prickles at the angles. The leaves are elliptic, acuminate, and marked with three longitudinal nerves. This species grows principally in the regions bordering the river Amazon, and on the banks of most of its tributary streams. It is generally brought from the provinces of Para and Maranham. It is in large cylindrical bundles, long and straight, and the flexible stem of the plant is bound round the bundles, so as to entirely cover them. Its fibres are very long, cylindrical, wrinkled longitudinally, and furnished with some lateral fibrils. Its color is of a fawn brown, or sometimes of a dark grey, approaching to black. The color internally is nearly white. Besides this species there are others indigenous, such as S. officinalis, which grows in the province of Mina; S. syphilitica, which grows in the northern regions, and three new species, S. japicanga, S. Brasiliensis, and S. syringioides. There is also met with in Brazil another plant, Herreria sarsaparilla, belonging to the same natural order, which abounds in the provinces of Rio, Bahia, and Mina, and the roots of which receive the name of wild sarsaparilla.
From Mexico, Honduras, and Angostura very good qualities are imported. S. zeylanica, glabra, and perfoliata furnish sarsaparilla from Asia, and S. excelsa and aspera are used as substitutes for the officinal drug in Europe.
Smilax officinalis, found in woods near the Rio Magdalena in New Granada, furnishes the best in the market, which is commonly known as Jamaica Sarza. It differs from the other kinds in having a deep red cuticle of a close texture, and the color is more generally diffused through the ligneous part. It is shipped in bales, formed either of the spirally formed roots, as in the Jamaica and Lima varieties, or of unfolded parallel roots, as in the Brazilian varieties. The roots are usually several feet long, about the thickness of a quill, more or less wrinkled, and the whole quantity retained for home consumption, in 1840, was 143,000 lbs. In 1844, 184,748 lbs., and in 1845 111,775 lbs. were shipped from Honduras.
The prices in the London market, at the close of 1853, were —Brazil, 1s. 3d. per lb.; Honduras, 1s. 3d. to 1s. 8d. per lb.; Vera Cruz, 6d. to 11d. per lb.; Jamaica, 1s. 8d. to 3s. 4d. per lb. The duty received on sarsaparilla in 1842 was £1,536.
The average annual quantity of sarsaparilla obtained from Mexico and South America, exclusive of Brazil, and taken for home consumption, in the twelve years ending with 1843 was 37,826 lbs.
IMPORTS OF BRAZILIAN SARSAPARILLA.
| lbs. | |
| 1827 | 28,155 |
| 1828 | 49,280 |
| 1829 | 52,772 |
| 1830 | 19,842 |
| 1831 | 31,972 |
| 1832 | 91,238 |
| 1833 | 13,077 |
| 1834 | 28,803 |
| 1835 | 22,387 |
| 1836 | 1,718 |
| 1837 | 12,842 |
| 1838 | — |
| 1839 | 9,484 |
| 1840 | 4,141 |
| 1841 | 1,399 |
| 1842 | 5,572 |
The total imports in 1849 were 118,934 lbs.
Sarsaparilla has been found growing in the Port Phillip district of Australia, and has been shipped thence in small quantities. It seems to be indigenous to the Bahamas, and is to be found on many of the out islands. Mr. Wm. Dalzell, of Abaco, collected some considerable quantity at a place called Marsh Harbor, which was found to be of a superior quality.
Some thousands of pounds of sarsaparilla were brought to Falmouth, Jamaica, last year, and bought by merchants for export. It came from the parish of St. Elizabeth, and there are whole forests covered with this weed, for such in reality it is. It is too the real black Jamaica sarsaparilla, that is so much valued in the European and American markets. It is also found in other parts of the island.
In 1798 3,674 lbs. of sarsaparilla were shipped from La Guayra; 2,394 lbs. in 1801 from Puerto Cabella, and 400 quintals from Costa Rica, in 1845, valued at eight dollars a quintal.
SENNA.—Several varieties of Cassia, natives of the East, are grown for the production of this drug. The dried leaves of C. lanceolata or orientalis, grown in Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, the true Mecca senna, are considered the best. In Egypt the leaves of Cynanchum Arghel are used for adulterating senna, Cassia obovata or C. senna, also a native of Egypt, cultivated in the East Indies, as well as in Spain, Italy, and Jamaica. It is a perennial herb, one or two feet high. In the East Indies there is a variety (C. elongata) common about Tinnivelly, Coimbatore, Bombay, and Agra, &c. Several of this species are common in the West India islands. The plants, which are for the most part evergreens, grow from two to fifteen feet high; they delight in a loamy soil, or mixture of loam or peat.
The seed is drilled in the ground, and the only attention required by the plant is loosening the ground and weeding two or three times when it is young.
The senna leaves imported from India are not generally so clean and free from rubbish as those from Alexandria. They are worth from 20s. to 27s. per cwt. in the Bombay market.
The prices are—Alexandria, l½d. to 6d. per lb.; East Indian, 2d. to 3d. per lb.; Tinnevelly, 7d. to 9½d. per lb.
Senna is collected in various parts of Africa by the Arabs, who make two crops annually; one, the most productive, after the rains in August and September, the other about the middle of March. It is brought to Boulack, the port of Cairo, by the caravans, &c., from Abyssinia, Nubia, and Sennaar, also by the way of Cossier, the Red Sea, and Suez. The different leaves are mixed, and adulterated with arghel leaves. The whole shipments from Boulack to Alexandria, whence it finds it way to Europe, is 14,000 to 15,500 quintals.
The quantities imported for home consumption were—
| From the East Indies. lbs. | Other places. lbs. | Total. lbs. | |
| 1838 | 72,576 | 69,538 | 142,114 |
| 1839 | 110,409 | 63,766 | 174,175 |
In 1840, 211,400 lbs. paid duty, which is now only 1d. per lb.
In 1848, we imported 800,000 lbs. from India; in 1849, the total imports were 541,143 lbs. The imports into the United Kingdom were, in 1847, 246 tons; 1848, 402 tons; 1849, 240 tons.
Alexandrian senna (Cassia acutifolia). This species is said by some to constitute the bulk of the senna consumed for medical purposes in Europe. It is much adulterated with the leaves of Cynanchum Arghel, Tiphrosia apollinea, and Coriaria myrtifolia.
C. lanceolata and C. ethiopica furnish other species of the same article, the greater part of the produce of which find its way to India, through the Red Sea, Surat, Bombay and Calcutta, the imports into Calcutta, in 1849, having been 79,212 lbs. C. obovata furnishes the Aleppo and Italian drug.
At least eight varieties of senna leaf are known in commerce in Europe—1. the Senna palthe; 2. Senna of Sennaar or Alexandria; 3. of Tripoli; 4. of Aleppo; 5. of Moka; 6. of Senegambia; 7. the false or Arghel; 8. the Tinnevelly.
In Egypt the senna harvest takes place twice annually, in April and September; the stalks are cut off with the leaves, dried before the sun, and then packed with date leaves. At Boulka, the drug is sorted, mixed, and adulterated, and passed into commerce through Alexandria.
Alexandrian senna, according to Mr. Jacob Bell ("Pharmaceutical Journal," vol. 2, p. 63), contains a mixture of two or more species of true senna. It consists principally of Cassia obovata and C. obtusata, and according to some authorities it occasionally contains C. acutifolia. This mixture is unimportant, but the Cynanchum Arghel, which generally constitutes a fifth of the weight on an average, possesses properties differing in some respects from true senna, and which render it particularly objectionable. The Tinnevelly senna, that most esteemed by the profession, is known by the size of the leaflets, which are much larger than those of any other variety; they are also less brittle, thinner and larger, and are generally found in a very perfect state, while the other varieties, especially the Alexandrian, are more or less broken. The leaves of the Cynanchum are similar in form to those of the lanceolate senna, but they are thicker and stiffer, the veins are scarcely visible, they are not oblique at the base, their surface is rugose, and the color grey or greenish drab; their taste is bitter and disagreeable, and they are often spotted with a yellow, intensely bitter gummo-resinous incrustation. Being less fragile than the leaflets of the true senna, they are more often found entire, and are very easily distinguishable from the varieties which constitute true Alexandrian senna.
In their botanical character they are essentially different, being distinct leaves, not leaflets, which is the case with true senna.
The SUMBUL root, which has recently been introduced into the French market, is the root of an umbelliferous plant, which is characterised by a strong odor of musk. The pilgrims, on their return from Mecca, generally import to Salonika, Constantinople, &c., among other articles of trade, various plants with a musk-like odor. The preparation of these vegetable substances is said to be effected by smearing them over with musk-balsam.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures.
[2] Fractional parts are not necessary to include.
[3] Dr. Lindley is in error as to the discriminating duties—British cacao pays 9s., and foreign 18s.
[4] According to Breen's History of St. Lucia up to 1844.
[5] Caffeine (the principle of coffee) and theobromine (the principle of cacao) are the most highly nitrogenised products in nature, as the following analysis will show:—
Caffeine, according to Pfaff and Liebig, contains—
| Carbon | 49.77 |
| Hydrogen | 5.33 |
| Nitrogen | 28.78 |
| Oxygen | 16.12 |
Theobromine, according to Woskreseusky, contains—
| Carbon | 47.21 |
| Hydrogen | 4.53 |
| Nitrogen | 35.38 |
| Oxygen | 12.80 |
Of the two, cacao contains the larger quantity of nitrogen; and this chemical fact explains why cacao should be so much more nutritive than tea, though the principle of tea (theine) is nearly identical with the principle of cacoa—tea containing in 100 parts 29.009 of nitrogen. On this subject Liebig has made an observation which I cannot avoid noticing. He says, "We shall never certainly be able to discover how men were led to the use of the hot infusion of the leaves of a certain shrub (tea), or of a decoction of certain roasted seeds (coffee). Some cause there must be, which would explain how the practice has become a necessary of life to whole nations. But it is surely still more remarkable that the beneficial effects of both plants on the health must be ascribed to one and the same substance, the presence of which in two vegetables, belonging to different natural families, and the produce of different quarters of the globe, could hardly have presented itself to the boldest imagination. Yet recent researches have shown, in such a manner as to exclude all doubt, that caffeine, the peculiar principle of coffee, and theine, that of tea, are in all respects identical."—(Anim. Chem., pp. 178-9.) We really can see nothing in all this but the manifestation of that instinct which, implanted in us by the Almighty, led the untutored Indian (as we are pleased to call him) to breathe into the nostril of the buffalo or the wild horse, and by that single act to subdue his angry rage, or that impelled the first discoverer of combustion to extract fire from the attrition of two pieces of wood. The American Indian, living entirely on flesh, "discovered for himself in tobacco smoke a means of retarding the change of matter in the tissues of the body, and thereby of making hunger more endurable."—(P. 179.) But the wonder ceases, when we reflect that man was endued with certain properties by his Maker which must have been at some remote period, of which we can form no idea, active and manifest the moment he breathed the breath of life. To inquire how he lost this property is not our business at present, but it is only by supposing the quondam existence of such a property, active and manifest, that can in any way explain a first knowledge of the therapeutic, or threptic, qualities of plants and shrubs. With regard to the identity of theine, caffeine, theobromine, &c., it would be as well that the reader should keep in mind that it is so chemically only, for in appearance, taste, weight, odor, &c., no substances can differ more. Does the palate exert some peculiar action on the ingesta, so as to give to each a distinct sapor? Or vice versa?
[6] In the West Indies, from my own experience, I have found this to be one of the worst descriptions of soil. P.L.S.
[7] Correspondent of the Singapore Free Press, December, 1852.
[8] It is important, in considering what tea may be had from China, to consider the manner of its production. It is grown over an immense district, in small farms, or rather gardens, no farm producing more that 600 chests. "The tea merchant goes himself, or sends his agents to all the small towns, villages, and temples in the district, to purchase tea from the priests and small farmers; the large merchant, into whose hands the tea thus comes, has to refire it and pack it for the foreign market."—(Fortune's Tea Districts.) This refiring is the only additional process of manufacture for our market. Mr. Fortune elsewhere, in his valuable work, giving an account of the cost of tea from the farmers, the conveyance to market, and the merchant's profit, states that " the small farmer and manipulator is not overpaid, but that the great profits are received by the middlemen." No doubt these men do their utmost to keep the farmers in complete ignorance of the state of the tea-market, that they may monopolise the advantages, but it is pretty certain that the news of a bold reduction of duty, and the promise of an immensely increased consumption, would reach even the Chinese farmers, and make them pick their trees more closely—a little of which amongst so many would make a vast difference in the total supply.
[9] See article Thea, by Dr. Royle, in "Penny Cyclopædia," vol xxiv., p. 286.
[10] Hooker's "Bot. Mag.," 1.3148. It is the Assam tea plant.
[11] Report on Tea Cultivation submitted to House of Commons. See Blue Book, 1839, p. 1-3.
[12] In a short time rain gauges will be established at Bheemtal, Huwalbaugh, Paoree, and Kaolagir, in order to measure the quantity of rain that falls annually, for the purpose of ascertaining how much the quantity and quality of the produce of tea is affected by the weather.
[13] In China this process, according to the statement of tea manufacturers, is carried on to a great extent.
[14] Dr. Jameson, in a late communication, remarks—"From the accounts I have received of that place (Darjeeling), I doubt not but that the plants there grown will yield tea of a superior description."
[15] The crops of this district, such as rice, mundooa, and other grains, are so plentiful and cheap as scarcely to pay the carriage to the nearest market town, much less to the plains. In Almorah a maund of rice or mundooa sells for something less than a rupee; barley for eight annas; and wheat for a rupee.
[16] There is frequently a discrepancy in the figures in the Parliamentary papers, which will account for a want of agreement in some of these returns.
[17] See the "Pharmaceutical Journal" for June, 1849, p. 15, et seq.
[18] Reports of Dr. Roxburgh, Mr. Touchet of Radanagore, and Mr. Cardin of Mirzapore, Cutna. Papers on East India Sugar, page 258.
[19] Many are of opinion, that although the juice of this cane is larger in quantity, yet that it contains less sugar. There is some sense in the reason they assign, which is, that in the Mauritius and elsewhere it has the full time of twelve or fourteen months allowed for its coming to maturity—whereas the agriculture of India, and especially in Bengal, only allows it eight or nine months, which, though ample to mature the smaller country canes, is not sufficient for the Otaheite.
[20] Roxburgh on the Culture of Sugar and Jaggary in the Rajahmundry Circar; Third Ap. to Report on East India Sugar, p. 2.
[21] L'Exploitation de Sucreries. Porter on the Sugar Cane, 53,321.
[22] That the above application would be beneficial, is rendered still more worthy of credit from the following experience:—In the Dhoon, the white ant is a most formidable enemy to the sugar planter, owing to the destruction it causes to the sets when first planted. Mr. G.H. Smith says, that there is a wood very common there, called by the natives Butch, through, which, they say, if the irrigating waters are passed in its progress to the beds, the white ants are driven away. (Trans. Agri-Hort. Soc. of India, v. 65.)
[23] Fitzmaurice on the Culture of the Sugar Cane.
[24] The kilogramme is equal to 2 lb, 3 oz. avoirdupois.
[25] A lecture on the nutritive value of different articles of food, by C. Daubeny, M.D., "Gardener's Chronicle" (London), January 20th, 1849, p. 37.
[26] Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society, 1849, p. 646.
[27] A lecture "On the Geographical Distribution of Corn Plants," by the Rev. E. Sidney—Proceedings of the Royal Institution (London), May 18th, 1849.
[28] Boussingault's Rural Economy, American edition, pp. 85 and 86.
[29] Zenas Coffin, one of the oldest whalemen in Nantucket, states that corn meal in tight rum puncheons when sent to the Went Indies will keep sweet, while in common flour barrels it will spoil. Report of the Commissioner of Patents for 1847, p. 133.
[30] From remarks of Col. Skinner, and others, at a meeting of the American Institute, held in April 1846. Transactions of American Institute, 1846, p. 509 et seq.
[31] Comptes Rendus des Séances de L'Academie des Sciences, February 5th, 1819.
[32] A Treatise on Diet and Regimen, by Wm. Henry Robertson, M.D., vol. i. p. 153.
[33] The Plant: a Biography; by M.H. Schleiden, M.D., Professor of Botany in the University of Jena. English translation, p. 54.
[34] Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society for 1847, p. 190. In this communication, Mr. Bentz does not describe the process which he adopts, but enumerates some of its supposed advantages.
[35] Quoted by Boussingault, Rural Economy, Amer. edition, p. 410.
[36] A Treatise on Diet and Regimen, by Wm. Henry Robertson, M.D., Vol. i. p. 140.
[37] Experimental Researches on the Food of Animals, &c., by R.D. Thomson, M.D., p. 156.
[38] Chemistry of Vegetable and Animal Physiology, translated by Prof. J.F.W. Johnston, p. 684.
[39] See Dr. R.D. Thomson's Experimental Researches on the Food of Animals, &c.
[40] Mulder's Chemistry of Vegetable and Animal Physiology; English Translation, p. 816.
[41] I have had no opportunity of analysing samples of flour from the South-Western States, and therefore cannot extend this comparison to them.
[42] Transactions of "Agri.-Hort. Society, of Calcutta," vol. iv. p. 125.
[43] Dict. of Arts and Manufacture.
[44] Pharmaceutical Journal, vol. 3, p. 138.
[45] The glasses used were all of the sort described in Griffin's catalogue under the name of Clark's test-glasses. They were all, as nearly as possible, of the same size and shape.
[46] I have determined the amount of nitrogen contained in the meal made from the whole maize, the growth of the colony, as also from plantain meal; I have also ascertained its amount in cassava meal, prepared in the manner mentioned in the text, and in meal prepared from the cassava sliced, dried, and ground without expressing the juice. Assuming Liebig's formula of Proteine, namely, C-48 N-6 H-36 0-4 the results stand thus:—
| Nitrogen. Per cent. | Proteine compounds. Per cent. | |
| Maize meal (unhusked) | 1.73 | 10.72 |
| Plantain meal | .88 | 5.45 |
| Cassava meal (juice expressed) | .36 | 2.23 |
| Ditto from the sliced and dried roots | .78 | 4.83 |
[47] Les Moyens de prévenir la Maladie des Pommes de Terre. Expériences et Conclusions de A.N.C. Bollman, Conseiller d'état, Professeur, &c. 8vo, St. Petersburg, 1853.
[48] If cinnamon seeds after washing be exposed to the sun, even for twenty minutes, the shells will crack in two, and this prevents the seeds from growing.
[49] No export duties exist in the Straits Settlements.
[50] Since these remarks were written, the duty has been wholly abolished.
[51] Although this was the amount of produce for 1842, it must be remarked that that crop was a complete failure, and the average crop for some years past has been 46,666 pounds.
[52] Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures.
[53] The vernacular name for stale or putrid urine.
[54] "Lit" was the name applied to the plant, from which the dye was to be prepared, and "pig" is the Scotch synonym for any kind of earthenware vessel—in which the maceration was generally carried on.
[55] Pitkins' Statistics of the United States.
[56] A great portion of the crop I grew had leaves measuring two feet nine inches in length and eighteen inches wide, being larger than I ever knew to have been grown in America. The average weight I obtained per acre, was 25 cwt.; whereas I see by the public returns, the average of what is grown here is only 17 1-7th cwt.