438 BOTANICON SINICUM. 
I may observe that the kua tsz‘ or melon-seeds of the 
Customs reports are not melon-seeds, but the larger seeds of 
the water-melon [melon-seeds are small]. They are largely 
exported from New chwang. Probably the seeds of some 
gourds and squashes go under the same name. 
Further particulars in another part. 
293.—il 4ij p‘u tao. The Vine. Vitis vinifera. Grapes. 
P., XXXII, 7. 7, CXL. Pen king. 
Pie lu:—The p‘u t‘ao grows in the mountains of Lung 
si [in Kan su, App. 216], Wu yiian [North of the Ordos. 
App. 897] and Tun huang [in Kan su, App. 871]. 
The Han History states that the Chinese General Cuaxé 
K‘ten (see Bot. sin. I, p. 24) first introduced the vine to 
China from Western Asia, about B.C. 120. The name was 
originally written ¥f Hk p‘u t‘ao, probably the rendering ie : 
Chinese of a foreign name. If this statement be true it 
inconsistent with the notice of the grape in the earliest — 
Chinese Materia Medica. La Sut-cuen therefore supposes 
that the vine has always been indigenous in Lung $i, but 
was not cultivated in China proper. : 
I may observe that several species of wild vine with 
edible berries grow abundantly in the mountains of North : 
China,— Vitis ficifolia, Bge., Vitis bryoniefolia, Bge. Comp. 
Classics, 492. Further particulars in another part. ? 
294.—H jf kan che. The Sugar-cane. P., XXXII, . 
T., CXIIT. 
Pie lu:—Kan (sweet) che. Only the name. 3 
The earliest Chinese account of the sugar-cane is found : 
in Tone Fane-so’s Shen i king [B.C. 2nd cent.]. Ib is 
described there under the name of BF WR han che asa 
