VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 27 



ALLIUM ODORUM.— Ml (Chiu), 203. Other names for 

 this seem to be Allnim uliginosum^ Allium tuberosum^ and 

 Alliu7ti senescens. It is indigenous to Siberia, Mongolia, and 

 the whole of China ; is a common plant in the mountains of the 

 north, and is cultivated everywhere in gardens. The Chinese 

 eat the whole plant, it being specially relished when it is in 

 flower in mid-summer. It somewhat resembles the leek^ but is 

 much smaller. The leaves are ligulate, and the bulb flat and 

 continuous with the stem. The Book of Rites calls this plant 

 ^ 7(S, feng pen (the rich root), when it is used for the sacrifices 

 in the ancestral temple, and it is also used in other sacrifices. 

 It is raised from the seed or from the transplanted bulbs ; 

 patches of the fresh vegetable being kept ready for use during 

 the entire year in Central China. It is supposed to nourish 

 and purify the blood, to act as a cordial, and to in every way 

 benefit those who are ailing. It can be partaken of freely and 

 for a long time. Special diflSculties for which it is regarded 

 to be eflScacious are poi.'^onous bites of dogs, serpents, or insects, 

 hemorrhages of every sort, and spermatorrhoea. For this 

 latter the seeds are considered to be especially useful. 



The wild leek, lU ii (Shan-chiu), also called ^ :^ Ml 

 (Chu-ko-chiu), is considered by Faber to be a distinct species, 

 Alliuvi japonicuni. It is specially mentioned in the Pentsao^ 

 and is thought to have special action in promoting excretion 

 and in the flatulent dyspepsia of elderly persons. 



ALLIUM SATIVUM.— IJ. (Suan). Garlich?.^ been known 

 to the Chinese from a very early period ; it being mentioned in 

 the Calendar of the Hsia, a book of two thousand years before 

 Christ. It is now called )\\ |,^ Hsiao-suan) to distinguish it 

 from Allium scorodoprastivi^ which is called -^^ ,^ (Ta-suan). 

 The Erh-ya relates that when the Emperor Huang-ti was 

 ascending a certain mountain, some of his followers were 

 poisoned by eating the ^ ^ yu-yii (probably an aroid plant); 

 but by eating the garlic, which was also found there, their lives 

 were saved. From that time it was introduced into cultivation. 



The Phitsao gives thirty-two varieties of vegetable under 

 the classification oS.%% (hun-ts'ai). In addition to alliaceous 

 plants, there are mustard, ginger, and the like ; all seeming to 



