and kept him in prison. After ten days, he spat out nearly two 
spittoonsful of phlegm, became conscious, and found out him- 
self that those he killed were his parents, brothers, sisters-in- 
law, his wife, sons, sisters, nephews. Both Chang and Wu were 
committed to the death sentence. The Emperor, Shih-tsung, 
proclaimed throughout the country about the case. The par- 
ticular magic potion must be of the kind of Lang-tang or similar 
drugs. When the man was under the spell, he saw everyone else 
as a devil. It is thus very important to find out the remedy that 
counteracts such a thing.” 
The four plants mentioned by Li Shih-chén above, as well as 
other hallucinogenic plants from Chinese works, are given 
below, in the order of their relative importance. 
It may be mentioned that the botanical identity of some of 
these plants are not positive, and others may also be subject to 
questioning. Among the Chinese drug plants in these old her- 
bals, certain items appearing under one name may actually 
involve several different species of the same genus or even 
several species belonging to different genera. In other in- 
stances, a Chinese drug under one name may involve several 
species of the same genus as occurring in different geographical 
areas. However, in many cases, a plant drug may be positively 
determined as representing a certain species. It is not the aim of 
this paper to ascertain the definitive botanical identity of all the 
plants herein discussed, nor the chemical nature of the alleged 
hallucinogenic agents involved. These plants are being given 
here on the basis of their records as such as found in the 
literature. In some cases, as can be seen, an older record was 
not being further substantiated by later authors or may be even 
questioned or disputed. 
Many attempts have been made by modern authors for the 
botanical identification of Chinese medicinal plants in the old 
herbals. Among the chief sources available are the works of 
Matsumura (1915), Stuart (1911), and Read (1936). However, 
the botanical identifications as well as the nomenclature in 
these works are, in some cases, subject to further more critical 
verification or modification. 
The Chinese herbals and other related works cited here are 
given below with the author’s name first and arranged 
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