small part only lying to the west of the hills. The soil is for the most part not fertile; and so, notwithstanding the excellent cultivation, the produce of grain is not sufficient for home consumption. Potatoes, however, are more extensively produced. The most important of the natural productions of Rhone are its wines, many of which are highly esteemed. The climate is healthy, but from the mountainous nature of the country somewhat colder than other regions in the same latitude. The extent of arable land is estimated at 353,000 acres, of meadows 90,000, and of vineyards 75,000. The forests are of small extent, and afford comparatively little wood. Besides the crops already mentioned, pulse, madder, millet, hemp, and flax are raised. The quantity of wine produced annually is about 17,000,000 gallons. Large numbers of cattle are reared; also goats in the hilly regions, and many silkworms. Rhone contains about 10,000 horses, 71,000 horned cattle, 66,000 sheep, 18,000 goats, and 14,000 pigs. The annual value of the coal worked is about L8,000, of the copper L10,000, and that of the produce of all the quarries L20,000. It is for manufactures, however, that the department is chiefly distinguished. Lyons is for silk fabrics the most celebrated city in Europe; satins, velvets, lace, shawls, ribands, hosiery, &c., are also made in great quantities. Muslin, hats, paper, glass, hardware, machinery, and other articles are among the manufactures of the country. There is an active trade in raw and manufactured articles, as well as in wines, coal, timber, &c. Communication is facilitated by the two navigable rivers, by the canal of Givors in the south of the department, and by the railways from Chalons to Lyons, and from Lyons to St Etienne. The department forms the diocese of Lyons, and contains a court of appeal at Lyons and two inferior tribunals, an academy of theology, science, and literature, a secondary school of medicine, a lyceum, normal seminary, college, 10 superior and 663 elementary schools. Its divisions are as follows:

| Canton | Communes | Pop. (1850) | |--------|----------|------------| | Lyons | 17 | 129 | 460,034 | | Villefranche | 9 | 130 | 165,957 | | Total | 26 | 259 | 625,971 |

The capital is Lyons.

RHUBARB is the root of various species of *Rheum*, Nat. Ord. *Polygonaceae*. The rhubarb of commerce is obtained through various sources, and appears to have been known to the ancients, although much obscurity invests the history of the *Rha* or *Rheon* of the ancient Greek writers, and the *rhacoma* of the Romans. These names are supposed to have been applied to the dried roots of *Rheum rhaponticum* of Linnaeus, which is a native of Thracia, and of the coasts of the Euxine and Caspian seas, and part of Siberia. The rhubarb root was first introduced into European pharmacy by the Arabians, and was highly valued by Avicenna. The finer kinds of rhubarb are received from Chinese Tartary and possibly from Thibet. It finds its way to Europe through Russia; and from the fact, that the best kind was formerly sold by the merchants of Anadoli or Anatolia, it was called Turkey rhubarb. This sort is now generally imported from Russia and Turkey. There is another sort, rather inferior, which is called Canton or East Indian rhubarb, imported from Canton or Singapore. Of late, much rhubarb root has been prepared in Europe, and is either used as a milder medicine or for the purpose of sophisticating the finer foreign sorts. The town of Banbury in Oxfordshire has long been famous for the cultivation and preparation of English rhubarb, which is the product of *Rheum rhaponticum*; no other species is found to be of any value medicinally. Within the last few years the petioles or leaf-stalks of the various species of rhubarb have become a most important staple of our vegetable markets, in consequence of their agreeable subacidity and their succulence, which renders them very useful and wholesome in tarts and other forms of food. The chief species of rhubarb now known are:—*Rheum palmatum* (Linn.), supposed to yield the Turkey rhubarb root; it is also cultivated in this country as a culinary vegetable. *R. undulatum* (Linn.) is the source of the French rhubarb. *R. compactum* (Linn.) is also cultivated in France for its root, which is prepared to imitate the foreign drug. *R. Emodi* (Wallich) yields that kind of East Indian rhubarb known in trade as Himalayan; it is also a favourite garden species. *R. rhaponticum* (Linn.) is the commonest kind in cultivation in our gardens. Hundreds of tons of the leaf-stalks of this species are sent to our markets every week during the season, and form a cheap and refreshing food for all classes. The roots also are prepared as before stated. Ten or twelve other species are known, and some of them are probably as well adapted for the purposes of medicine or cookery as those above mentioned, but they have not been so well examined.

The quantity of rhubarb root imported in 1858 was 211,117 lbs., the estimated value of which was L39,300. This large quantity is entirely consumed in pharmacy, it being applied to no other use than as a mild aperient medicine.

(R. C. A.)