MATERIA MEDICA OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE. 297 
ku tsz* flowers [Convolvulus. See 169] but are larger. The 
fruit (capsule) is produced in the 8th month. It has an 
exterior white skin which encloses several small balls (cells) 
each containing from 4 to 5 seeds as large as buck-wheat and 
three-edged. There are two kinds, the black (seeded) and the 
white. 
Li Sui-cuen:—There are two sorts of ken niu, the 
black and the white. The first is a common wild plant. It is 
covered with white hair [tomentose]. The stem when broken 
discharges a white juice. Leaves trilobed like those of the 
Jeng tree [Liquidambar. Bot. sin., 11, 261]. The corolla is 
monopetalous and resembles that of the sian hua but is larger. 
The covering of the fruit (capsule) is at first green but when 
dried it becomes white. The kernels (seeds) are like those of 
the t‘ang k‘iu tsz* [ Crateyus] but of a deep black colour. The 
other kind, the white sort, is much cultivated. Its stem is 
slightly red, not covered with hair, and has weak spines. When 
broken it discharges a thick juice. The leaves are oblique, 
round and pointed, and resemble the leaves of the shan yao 
[Dioscorea. See 262]. The flowers of this species are smaller 
than those of the black kind, and are of a pale blue colour, 
tinged with red. The fruit (capsule) has a peduncle more than 
an inch long. It (the peduncle) is at first green, but when 
dried becomes white. The kernels (seeds) are white and coarse. 
The people gather the unripe fruit and roast it with honey to 
prepare a sweet meat. They call it K Hifi tien kie, because 
its fruit-stalk is like that of the k‘e or brinjal. The black 
and the white kien niu are also called Mm FI het ch'ou and 
3 FL pat chou (black and white ch‘ou. I suspect, by the 
second character ($f niv) a button was originally intended, 
for the capsule of the plant resembles a Chinese button). 
Other names #% fh Ft p‘an tseng ts‘ao [from the Yu yang tsa 
‘su, 10th cent. ], Jaj EE BX kow rh ts‘ao (dog’s ear). 
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