MATERIA MEDICA OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE. 173 
are officinal. The spines of the involucrum of the fruit 
lay hold of the rats who pass near it and stick to them, 
whence the name shu nien (rat and to stick). 
Lt Sut-cuen :—In ancient times the people cultivated 
the niu p‘ang plant in a rich soil, and the leaves were eaten 
asa vegetable. The root was likewise prepared for food. 
It is very nourishing, but is now seldom eaten. The plant 
grows from three to four feet high. In the 4th month it 
opens its pale purple flowers, which are crowded together. 
- The fruit resembles that of the feng tree (Liguidambar 
formosana) but is smaller. The calyces of the flowers have 
small spines. More than a hundred flowers form a globular 
head. The root is of the thickness of an arm, nearly a foot 
long and of a gray colour. The seeds are gathered in the 
ith month, the root is taken up in the 10th. The plant 
(flower-head) is provided with hooked spines, whence the 
name wu shi (evil fruit). Other vulgar names are 4F 3B 
mu ts‘ai (ox-vegetable), KI] F ta li ts2', Pi A A pien 
Mien niu, % MZ Wi ye chia tou, tig He Hl] pien fu ts‘z‘ (bat 
spine), aE pang weng ts‘ar. 
Kiu huang [LIII, 4] and Ch. [XI, 84], sub niu p‘ang tsz*, 
ood drawings of Arctium Lappa, L., which is a common 
Plant in North and Central China. In Peking it is called 
niu p‘ang tsz. It is known under the same name or as 
ta li tse‘, in Sz ch‘uan and Hu pei [ParKkER in China Rev., 
XI, “ Names of Sz ch‘uan Plants,” and Henry, /.c., 312]. 
Tarar., Cat., 41:—Niu p‘ang tse‘. Semina Lappe. 
Cust. Med., p. 78 (182):—Ta li tsz‘ exported 1885 
from Han kow 636 piculs,—p. 16 (129), from New chwang 
520 piculs,—p. 34 (174), from Tien tsin 5.50 piculs. 
Ibid., p. 34, (160), niw p‘ang tsz‘ from Tien tsin 1.89 picul. 
Amen. exot., 828 :—4 88 yobo, umma bufuki. Bardana 
major: que hic in terra pulla colitur, ob radicem, ante 
_ Caulium eruptionem, culinis destinandam. : 
