BOTANICON SINICUM. 105 
plants and drugs, is without doubt the great Dictionary in four 
languages, the pq #8 7H ac HE Sz’ ti ts“tng wen kien, published 
by Imperial command during the reign of Kang hi. A revised 
edition of it was issued by order of the Emperor K‘ien lung about 
the middle of last century. The books 27—29 deal with plants, 
and about 600 names of cultivated and wild species are enu-- 
merated there in Chinese, Manchoo, Mongol, and Tibetan. The 
pronunciation of Manchoo and Mongol names is indicated by 
Chinese characters. As most of the plants mentioned in this 
dictionary are known to me from the Chinese names given, I have 
thus been enabled to ascertain the Manchoo, Mongol, and Tibetan 
names of a considerable number of common plants of Eastern 
Asia. Very little has hitherto been done in the way of identi- 
fying names of plants in these languages. In Balfour’s Cyclo- 
pedia of India and Watson’s Index of native and scientific 
names of Eastern Plants we find occasionally some Tibetan 
(Ladak) names of plants; Maximowicz in his Prim. Flore amu- 
rensis gives 5 or 6 Manchurian names. In Zigra’s Dendrology 
of Russia we meet with some Mongol, Tartar, and Kalmuk 
names. Some names of common plants in the languages of the 
Kalmuks and the Kirghizes will be found in Professor Galstun- 
sky’s Russian-Kalmuk Dictionary, 1860, and in Ilminsky’s 
Kirghiz Dictionary, 1861. 
CHAPTER II. 
ON THE SCIENTIFIC DETERMINATION OF THE 
PLANTS MENTIONED IN CHINESE WORKS. 
We now come to the most important, but at the same time 
most difficult part of our researches. In order that Western 
Science may profit by a study of Chinese botanical works it is 
necessary not only to understand the Chinese written characters 
but also to recognize the plants described and to ascertain their 
scientific names. Our knowledge of the Botany of China is still 
very defective, more so indeed, it may be safely said, than that — 
