MATERIA MEDICA OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE. 377 
tsing jang is the name for the leaves of the ki sheng. It 
grows in Chung yiian [Ho nan, App. 34]. 
T‘ao Hune-Kixe :—The hu ma is one of the most im- 
portant cereals. The pure black kind (black seeds) is 
called Fi JB} ku sheng. The character ki means great [and 
sheng = superior]. The name hu ma [v. supra] refers to 
its being a native of Ta wan [ancient name for Fergana, 
2nd cent. B.C. See Bot. sin., I, 24]. The hu ma has a 
round stem and the hi sheng a square one. 
Cu‘gey Ts‘una-cuune [an author of the Sung period] 
states that the hu ma was brought [in the 2nd cent. B.C.] 
by Caanc Kew from Ta wan to China, and that it is 
commonly called py fig yu ma (oil-hemp). 
Su Sune [11th cent.] proves that the hu ma, a foreign 
Plant brought to China in the Han dynasty, has been 
erroneously identified by some early authors with the hi 
sheng of the Pen king, which is quite a different plant. 
The hu ma, now more commonly called f§ jij cht ma 
(fat or oil hemp), is the Sesam plant, extensively cultivated 
all over China for the oil of its seeds. Further particulars 
tegarding this plant will be found in another part of the 
Botanicon sinicum. : 
I am not prepared to say what the ku sheng of the 
ancient Chinese Materia Medica was. In the Cust. Med. 
the WF ki sheng tsz‘ appears only once [p. 158 (276)], 
Where it is stated that 2.40 piculs have been imported from 
Han kow and other ports to Shang hai. It is identified 
there with Sesamum indicum, probably on the authority of 
P. Sutra [195], who relies on TaTar. [Cat., 60]. But 
Braun [ Hank. Med., 12] states that the seeds exported from 
Han kow under the name of ki sheng tsz‘ bear no resemblance 
to Sesam seed. They are yellowish brown, oblong and 
~~" all the appearance of fennel seed. The druggist’s shops 
