GINSENG IN COMMERCE. 



547 



Ginseng (Aralia quinquefolid). 



tions, and has a fleshy root from four to nine inches long, which 

 throws up a simple stem about a foot high, bearing at the top 

 three long-petioled leaves, each of which has five divisions. The 

 stem terminates in a small umbel of inconspicuous greenish-white 

 flowers, which are succeeded by a small, berry-like red fruit. It 

 has a peculiar and rather pleasant smell, and a sweet, somewhat 

 pungent, aromatic taste. Ac- 

 cording to the Chinese, the root 

 nourishes and strengthens the 

 body, checks vomiting, re- 

 moves hypochondriasis and 

 other nervous affections, gives 

 a vigorous tone to the sys- 

 tem, even in old age, and is, in 

 short, a panacea for all the ills 

 to which flesh is heir. Euro- 

 pean and American doctors 

 consider it almost worthless as 

 a remedy, though it is some- 

 times used as a domestic medi- 

 cine in the States west of the 

 Alleghanies. Panax frudi- 

 cosus and Panax cochleatus, 

 plants somewhat akin to ginseng, are fragrant aromatics, which 

 grow in the Moluccas, and are used by the native practitioners of 

 India. With such unbounded faith in its beneficial effect both on 

 body and mind, what wonder that the discovery that stores of 

 ginseng are yet to be found in Canada should have created a de- 

 mand among the Celestial population on this continent, and that 

 the industry of digging and preparing it for market should have 

 assumed very considerable proportions ! 



As already stated, the trade in ginseng is a revival of one that 

 formerly existed. In the autumn of 1716 Pere Joseph Francois 

 Lafitan, a Jesuit father, who had arrived in the country in 1712, 

 and was stationed at the Sault, above Montreal, discovered the 

 plant. He had been in Quebec in 1715, and there saw a letter of 

 Pere Jartoux, who had seen ginseng in Tartary in 1709, and who 

 gave a description of it. Lafitan inquired about it from the In- 

 dians, and examined the country to find it. At this time it was 

 worth its weight in gold at Pekin. A company was formed to 

 export it to China, Japan, and Tartary. The price at Quebec was 

 from thirty to forty sous or cents per pound. At first any one 

 was allowed to sell it, but as its value increased the company 

 exercised its monopoly rights, and in 1751 undertook to exclude 

 all others from the trade. As the demand increased, the care with 

 which it was obtained and prepared was relaxed. It was gathered 



