MATERIA MEDICA OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE. 541 
birds which eat the fruits and drop their excrement upon 
irees. The leaves resemble orange-leaves but are thick and 
soft. The best is that growing upon the mulberry tree. 
Ta Mina [10th cent. ]:-—The people gather the plant 
which grows upon the ka tree [see 327] instead of that 
living upon the mulberry tree, which is very scarce. They 
resemble each other but are not identical. That grow- 
ing upon the feng tree is an inferior sort which equals that 
_. produced on the ku tree. It is of a yellow colour and is 
gathered in the 6th or 7th month. 
K‘ou Tsune-sut [12th cent.] :—The sang hi sheng is said 
_ [by previous authors] to be a common plant. But nowadays 
It is difficult to obtain, in the north as well as in the south, 
for the plant is gradually becoming extinct. 
Cu Cuen-nene [14th cent.]:—The sang ki sheng is an 
important medicine. 
Li Sxi-cuEn :—This parasitic plant is from 2 to 3 feet 
long. Its leaves are round, slightly pointed, thick, soft, green 
and glossy on the upper side, and of a pale purplish colour 
and downy underneath. People say that this plant is common 
in Chuan Shu [Sz ch‘uan, App. 26], where the mulberry 
tree abounds and where this plant can be taken direct a 
the tree and employed in a fresh state. It grows plentifully 
also on other trees, but then its medical virtues are 
not the same and it is sometimes injurious to life. The 
Cheng Tsiao Tung cht [12th cent.] says that there are 
two kinds. One of them, the larger sort, has leaves like 
the shi liu ( pomegranate). This is the & niao [of the 
Shi king], The smaller kind has leaves like the ma we 
[Ephedra See 97}. This is the te FE ni - [of the She 
king]. The fruits are the same in both kinds. [ Comp. 
Classics, 449, 450.] 
