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BOTANICON SINICUM. $5 
ch‘uan fu, Sz’ ch‘uan)." Besides his principal work, the Pen 
ts‘ao kang mu, he left several medical treatises mentioned in the 
catalogue Sz’ k‘u ts‘iian shu ming mu lu X, 17, 18. See also 
alph. list 218, 916, and Li Shi chen’s biography, Ming shi 299. 
Li Shi chen began the compilation of the Pen ts‘ao kang mu 
in 1552, and after 26 years’ labour he completed it in 1578. He 
wrote out the manuscript three times before he was satisfied to 
give it out as complete. The author died before it was published, 
and his son as #ft FE Li Kien yiian presented the manuscript to 
the Emperor, in 1596, who ordered it to be printed. Several 
editions have successively been issued. The earliest now extant 
is, it seems, that of Shun chi 15 (A. D. 1658). All editions 
which I have had an opportunity of examining are printed on in- 
different paper and are full of misprints, which make the book 
very inconvenient for reference. The original edition of the Pen 
ts‘ao kang mu was headed by a preface from the pen of = ft 4 
Wang Shi chen, and dated 1590. It is followed by another pre- 
face by Li Shi chen’s son, dated 1596, and after this by a general 
index of the 52 books (chapters) of the work, enumerating the 16 
divisions and the 62 classes under which the whole matter is 
arranged, 
We find next two books of pictorial illustrations which, it 
would appear, have been borrowed from previous works. These 
wood-cuts, amounting in number to more than 1100, represent 
minerals, plants, and animals. But they are so rude that it is 
very seldom that any conclusion can be drawn from them. 
The first chapter is taken up with a list of the works and 
authors, from whom extracts have been made by Li Shi chen for 
the compilation of the Pen ts‘ao kang mu. It begins witha 
critical review of the 42 capital works on Materia medica published 
at different times, and then gives a dry list of medical authors 
and works, and miscellaneous historical, geographical, and other 
publications, 950 in number. I shall speak more in detail of this 
list in another chupter. 
The next chapter is devoted to introductory observations on 
18 Previously he had been Offerer’of Sacrifices at the Court of one of the oe Lpecal 
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