BOTANICON SINICUM. 67 
matters presents difficulties to European readers acquainted in 
some degree with the language. In describing plants the authors 
use for the most part always the same terms. The chief obstacles 
encountered by European inquirers studying these writings will 
be found to consist in the right interpretation of geographical 
names which occur, and in ascertaining the time when the quoted 
works were composed. The satisfactory elucidation of these im- 
portant questions requires extensive preliminary studies in Chinese 
Geography, especially Historical Geography, and Bibliography. 
I need hardly say that for investigations of this kind very little 
assistance can be expected from our Chinese teachers, whose eru- 
dition seldom extends beyond the classics. 
Li Shi chen compiled the Pen ts‘ao kang mu from about 1000 
ancient and more recent works, not only medical and botanical, 
but also historical, geographical, philosophical, poetical, ete. As 
I have stated above the author gives a dry list of these works 
without other explanation; and in mentioning works or authors 
he never gives the whole title, but frequently only one character 
of the author’s name is quoted. In consulting the Pen ts‘ao we 
meet frequently in brackets with the characters Aj Fl Sung yile 
(Sung says). The character sung means properly a eulogy, but 
here it denotes the author gg fj Su Sung, who wrote the 
Tu king pen ts‘ao (see above No. 24). More examples of this 
kind, quoted from the Pen ts‘ao, will be found in another chapter 
of this paper, where I shall give an alphabetical list of works and 
authors appearing in that treatise. 
On a previous page we have already drawn attention to the im- 
portance for our investigations of knowing the time when the 
quoted works were written. We may add here that this question 
must be also elucidated for the purpose of determining the locali- 
ties mentioned in Chinese botanical writings. At all times the 
Chinese have endeavoured to complicate all branches of their 
knowledge, so that they themselves do not find their way easily. 
‘They seem to place the value of their sciences in this intricacy. 
It is known that from ancient times each of the Chinese Emperors 
bore, besides his dynastic name, a name for his reign, and this 
latter was often changed. There are Emperors who are registered _ 
in history with from 10 to 15 names, each composed wel at least | 
