Chap. xvii.J ACCOUNT OF THE DRAGON. 367 



Dragon is invisible to man. If this were the case, how could 

 we see his bones ? 1 myself have seen a whole skeleton, head, 

 horns and all, in a dilapidated mountain, and have no doubt 

 they come from a dead animal, and have not been cast off by 

 the Dragon. 



" Li She Chan remarks : I believe the above remarks to be 

 inaccurate. In the Tso Chime (a history written in the time 

 of Confucius) an official named AVan Lung Shee used to eat 

 spiced Dragons' flesh. A book named Shut Yu Kee (The 

 Record of Curiosities) says that King Wo of Hon Kwok (the 

 old name of China) made soup of a Dragon, which fell into 

 the palace during a heavy rain. He invited all the high 

 officials to partake of the soup. The author of the Pok Mut 

 Chee, says that Cheung Wo got Dragon's flesh, which he 

 steeped in vinegar, and thereby gave to the latter five different 

 colours. As the animal is seen and used in this way, I have 

 no doubt that the bones are those of a dead Dragon, and have 

 not been cast off. 



"This medicine is sweet and is not poison. Dr. A. Koon 

 certainly says that it is a little poisonous. Care must be taken 

 not to let it come in contact with fish or iron. It cures heart- 

 ache, stomach-ache, drives away ghosts, cures colds and 

 dysentery, cures fainting in children, irregularities of the 

 digestive organs, heart or stomach, paralysis, nocturnal alarm, 

 etc., and increases the general health." 



In the Chinese Repository * is a further quotation from Li 

 She Chan concerning Dragons' bones, as follows : " The bones 

 are found on banks of rivers and in caves of the earth, 

 places where the Dragon died, and can be collected at any 

 time. The bones are found in many places in Szechuen and 

 Shanse, where those of the back and brain are highly prized, 

 being variegated with different streaks on a white ground. 

 The best are known by the tongue slipping lightly over them. 

 The teeth are of little firmness, the horns hard and strong, but 

 if these are taken from damp places, or by women, they are 

 worthless." t 



It is possible that other mythical animals besides the Dragon 

 may be, like it, partly of fossil origin, as were, without doubt, 

 numerous races of Giants, which spring from the discovery of 

 Mammoth bones. Fossil bones from caves, under the name 



* The Chinese Repository, Canton, 1832-1838, p. 253. Extract from 

 " Pun Tsaou Kang Muh." 



t For accounts of Chinese Medicine, see M. P. Dabry de Thieisant, 

 "La Medecine chez les Chinois." Also same author, and Dr. Leon 

 Soubeiran, " La Matiere Medicale chez les Chinois," also " Etudes sur la 

 Matiere Medicale des Chinois." Acad, de Medicine, Paris, July 16, 1873. 



