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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  materials 
  from 
  which 
  one 
  could 
  be 
  prepared 
  are 
  widely 
  scattered, 
  

   very 
  incomplete, 
  greatly 
  generalized, 
  and 
  often 
  very 
  unreliable. 
  It 
  

   is 
  therefore 
  of 
  advantage 
  to 
  trace 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  botany 
  of 
  China 
  

   before 
  viewing 
  the 
  vegetation 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  and 
  examining 
  some 
  of 
  its 
  

   principal 
  component 
  parts; 
  that 
  is, 
  the 
  individual 
  species, 
  of 
  which 
  

   there 
  are 
  over 
  15,000 
  now 
  known, 
  with 
  hundreds 
  of 
  new 
  species 
  being 
  

   described 
  every 
  year. 
  

  

  This 
  history 
  has 
  three 
  branches: 
  the 
  first, 
  the 
  accumulation 
  of 
  

   knowledge 
  now 
  represented 
  in 
  the 
  rich 
  Chinese 
  literature 
  prepared 
  

   before 
  the 
  advent 
  of 
  modern 
  science 
  ; 
  the 
  second, 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  

   scientific 
  knowledge 
  by 
  westerners 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  third, 
  as 
  yet 
  only 
  a 
  vig- 
  

   orous 
  shoot 
  scarcely 
  25 
  years 
  old, 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  Chinese 
  scien- 
  

   tific 
  botanists 
  and 
  institutions. 
  

  

  PRESCIENTIFIC 
  STUDY 
  BY 
  CHINESE 
  

  

  Chinese 
  nonscientific 
  knowledge 
  can 
  be 
  traced 
  back 
  to 
  the 
  mytho- 
  

   logical 
  emperor 
  and 
  scholar, 
  Shen 
  Nung, 
  who 
  is 
  supposed 
  to 
  have 
  

   lived 
  some 
  2,000 
  years 
  B. 
  C. 
  In 
  the 
  third 
  century 
  B. 
  C. 
  a 
  diction- 
  

   ary 
  of 
  terms, 
  including 
  botanical 
  names, 
  which 
  were 
  used 
  in 
  the 
  an- 
  

   cient 
  Chinese 
  classics, 
  was 
  compiled 
  by 
  Chou 
  Kung 
  under 
  the 
  title 
  

   "Ehr 
  yah." 
  In 
  1590 
  appeared 
  the 
  most 
  important 
  of 
  all 
  Chinese 
  

   botanical 
  works, 
  the 
  herbal 
  called 
  "Pen 
  ts'ao 
  kang 
  mu," 
  by 
  Li 
  Shih- 
  

   chen, 
  a 
  record 
  of 
  all 
  knowledge 
  of 
  Chinese 
  medicinal 
  plants. 
  Since 
  

   that 
  time 
  many 
  editions 
  of 
  this 
  famous 
  work 
  have 
  been 
  prepared, 
  

   as 
  well 
  as 
  other 
  herbals. 
  Most 
  of 
  the 
  data 
  recorded 
  in 
  these 
  numer- 
  

   ous 
  Chinese 
  works 
  are 
  agricultural, 
  medicinal, 
  or 
  economic. 
  Valu- 
  

   able 
  information 
  on 
  plants 
  is 
  inscribed 
  in 
  the 
  huge 
  Chinese 
  encyclo- 
  

   pedias, 
  which 
  are 
  often 
  so 
  large 
  as 
  to 
  dwarf 
  our 
  familiar 
  reference 
  

   works 
  of 
  this 
  type. 
  More 
  information 
  is 
  buried 
  in 
  the 
  numerous 
  pro- 
  

   vincial 
  and 
  regional 
  gazeteers. 
  A 
  few 
  western 
  scholars 
  of 
  the 
  Chi- 
  

   nese 
  language, 
  or 
  Sinologues, 
  have 
  delved 
  into 
  these 
  storehouses 
  of 
  

   literature 
  and 
  have 
  made 
  translations 
  of 
  scattered 
  portions, 
  but 
  the 
  

   bulk 
  of 
  this 
  material 
  is 
  still 
  hidden 
  from 
  modern 
  scientists 
  in 
  the 
  

   intricacies 
  of 
  the 
  Chinese 
  language. 
  It 
  is 
  of 
  relatively 
  little 
  value 
  

   to 
  us 
  from 
  the 
  purely 
  scientific 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  but 
  is 
  of 
  use 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  

   of 
  economic 
  botany. 
  

  

  STUDY 
  BY 
  WESTERNERS 
  

  

  The 
  growth 
  of 
  our 
  western 
  scientific 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  plants 
  of 
  

   China 
  shows 
  a 
  steadily 
  increasing 
  seriousness 
  in 
  its 
  scientific 
  objectives, 
  

   progressive 
  changes 
  in 
  the 
  nationality 
  and 
  qualifications 
  of 
  its 
  workers, 
  

   expansion 
  of 
  the 
  areas 
  where 
  they 
  worked, 
  and 
  changes 
  in 
  the 
  loca- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  centers 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  labored. 
  The 
  earliest 
  westerners 
  

   who 
  came 
  to 
  China 
  were 
  much 
  interested 
  in 
  the 
  strange 
  new 
  fruits 
  

  

  