Sesame and Flax 295 



been pointed out, the plant is indigenous also in northern Persia, and 

 must have been cultivated there from ancient times, although we have 

 no information on this point from either native documents or Greek 

 authors. 1 



Bretschneider 2 says that "flax was unknown to the ancient 

 Chinese; it is nowadays cultivated in the mountains of northern China 

 (probably also in other parts) and in southern Mongolia, but only for 

 the oil of its seeds, not for its fibres; the Chinese call it hu ma ('foreign 

 hemp'); the Pen ts'ao does not speak of it; its introduction must be of 

 more recent date." This is erroneous. The Pen ts'ao includes this 

 species under the ambiguous term hu ma; and, although the date of the 

 introduction cannot be ascertained, the event seems to have taken 

 place in the first centuries of our era. 



At present, the designation hu ma appears to refer solely to flax. 

 A. Henry 5 states under this heading, "This is flax (Linum usitatis- 

 simum), which is cultivated in San-si, Mongolia, and the mountainous 

 parts of Hu-pei and Se-c'wan. In the last two provinces, from personal 

 observation, flax would seem to be entirely cultivated for the seeds, 

 which are a common article in Chinese drug-shops, and are used locally 

 for their oil, utilized for cooking and lighting purposes." In another 

 paper, 4 the same author states that Linum usitatissimum is called at 

 Yi-£'an, Se-£'wan, San U ma tfj Be 5 M ("mountain sap-hemp"), and 

 that it is cultivated in the mountains of the Patun district, not for the 

 fibre, but for the oil which the seed yields. 



Chinese hu ma has passed into Mongol as xuma (khuma) with the 

 meaning "sesame," 6 and into Japanese as goma, used only in the sense 

 of Sesamum indicum? while Linum usitatissimum is in Japanese ama 

 or iUnen-ama} 



Yao Mih-hwi #fc ^ jt?, in his book on Mongolia (Mon-ku &'),* 

 mentions hu ma among the products of that country. There are several 

 wild-growing species of Linum in northern China and Japan, — ya ma 



1 Joret, Plantes dans l'antiquite\ Vol. II, p. 69. 



2 Bot. Sin., pt. II, p. 204. 



* Chinese Jute, p. 6 (publication of the Chinese Maritime Customs, Shanghai, 

 1891). 



4 Chinese Names of Plants, p. 239 (Journal China Branch Royal As. Soc, 

 Vol. XXII, 1887). 



6 The popular writing ;J£, according to the Pen ts'ao kan tnu, is incorrect. 

 4 Kovalevski, Dictionnaire mongol, p. 934. 



7 Matsumura, No. 2924. 



8 Ibid., No. 1839. 



9 Ch. 3, p. 41 (Shanghai, 1907). 



