CHAPTER IV 

 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA 



NATIVE practitioners in China have very crude ideas of 

 human anatomy, and to be able to " read " the pulse is 

 proof positive of medical skill. Certain foreign drugs 

 like quinine are highly esteemed, but on the whole their faith is 

 in native medicines. Inoculation for smallpox has long been 

 practised, so also has acupuncture for rheumatism, and the value 

 of mercury for certain diseases is well known and it is largely 

 employed. The Chinese materia medica is probably the most 

 varied and comprehensive known. It includes all sorts of the 

 most extraordinary things, ranging from tiger bones to bat's 

 dung, and worse. It is principally, however, vegetable, and the 

 majority of plants found in China are considered to possess 

 medicinal properties to a greater or less extent. Of all this 

 vast array only rhubarb and liquorice have any real value 

 in Occidental practice. The majority of Chinese drugs are 

 supposed to possess tonic and aphrodisiac properties, and the 

 higher a drug is estimated in these respects the greater its 

 commercial value, as witness ginseng and deerhorns in velvet. 

 The " Father of Chinese medicine " is the Emperor Shen- 

 nung, who, according to legend, ruled from 2737-2697 B.C. 

 This same emperor is also the " God of Agriculture." We 

 are told that Shen-nung went very deeply into the study of 

 herbs, in order to find remedies for the diseases of his people. 

 He is said to have been very successful in his investigations. 

 As an example of his energetic pursuit of this study, it is 

 declared that in one day he discovered 70 poisonous plants 

 and as many that were antidotes to them. Tradition is also 

 responsible for the native belief that he had a glass covering 

 to his stomach, in consequence of which he could watch the 



