MATERIA MEDICA OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE. 255 
Pen king :— Wu t‘ou (crow’s head), 1% wu hui (crow’s 
beak), pd UH 3 Viang t'ou tsien [means “pointed at both ends”), 
SB FE hi tu. Taste acrid. Nature warm. Very poisonous. 
In the Kuang ya [3rd cent.] we find hi tu [v. supra] and 
RE cho given as synonyms for fu tsz‘. 
Pie lu: —The wu t‘ou or wu hui grows in Lang ling [in 
Ho nan, App. 176], in mountain-valleys. The root is dug up 
in the first and second months and dried in the shade. It is 
three inches long. The best is the t'’en hiung [see 144]. 
Woe P*u [8rd cent.] gives the following synonyms : 
HK -F keng tsz‘, HE A tu kung (respectable poison), Pk 
tt ts‘tu (Emperor’s autumn). , 
Ta Miva [10th cent.] notices the +: Bf F t‘u [native] 
fu tsz‘, the inspissated juice of which, called $f fA she wang, 
is used by archers to poison their arrows. 
Lr Sat-cuen :—This wu t‘ou [mentioned in the Pen king. 
Comp. also above 143] is a wild-growing species and is 
commonly called EX F Ej ts‘ao (herbaceous) wu t‘ou, also 
W Bi DA chu tsie (bamboo-joint) wu tfou. That which 
grows in Kiang pei (north of the Yang tsz‘) is called }#é [ | 
Huai wu t‘ou. This is the tu fu tsz* mentioned by Jz Hua 
(Ta Mina). The EI ww hui is that with two protuberances. 
It is now commonly called ffj Hi Gz Vang tou tsien (pointed 
at both ends). The ts‘ao wu t‘ou is a common plant. Its 
root, leaves, fruit, all resemble those of the Ch‘uan wu t‘ou 
[see 143]. It grows wild [the other is cultivated]. The 
root has a black skin, is white within, shrivelled. It is very 
poisonous. 
The Chinese drugs noticed from 143 to 146 are the roots 
of several species of Aconitum, and the above descriptions by 
the ancient authors are quite correct. The root of the 
European Aconitum napellus, as described in FLicKIGER and 
