46 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



fully in North and Central China. It has a large number of 

 vulgar names, of which the Phitsao gives the following : ^ ^ 

 (Niu-ts'ai), -^ ^ ^ (Pien-clvlen-niu), ^S ^ HI (Ye-ch'a-t'ou), 

 U^XkM 'Pien-fu-tz'u), ^ Wi % (P'ang-weng-ts'ai), and %^%^ 

 (Shu-nien). The seeds, stem, and root are used in medicine. 

 It is said that in former times the leaves were eaten as a vege- 

 table. The taste of the seeds is said to be slightly pungent, 

 while that of the root and stem is bitter and cooling. The 

 drug is considered to be alterative, depurative, diaphoretic, and 

 diuretic. The seeds are usually taken in decoction, or with 

 honey and wine ; the root and stalk in decoction or tincture. 



ARECA CATECHU.—^ % (Ping-lang). This is the 

 Araca Palm which bears the so-called Betel Nut used by the 

 Malays in betel chewing. (See Chavica betel.) The Malayan 

 name is Pinang., and the Chinese name is suppc^ed to be a 

 transference of the sounds of this word. But Li Shih Chen says 

 that ^ ^1) means "an honored guest," and these characters 

 are used because of the practice of setting the betel box before 

 guests. Both explanations are ingenious, to say the least. The 

 Areca Palm is indigenous to the East Indies, where it is 

 extensively cultivated, as also in the Philippine Islands, 

 Hainan, and the south of China. Mr. Sampson reports that 

 the best nuts are produced in the south of the island of Hainan. 

 According to the Phitsao there are several sorts, varying 

 according to the height of the tree and the size of the fruit. 

 The nuts vary a good deal in size and quality, being from three 

 quarters of an inch to an inch in length. They are brown in 

 color, conical at one end and truncated at the other, which is 

 marked by a depressed, whitish scar. The taste is bitter and 

 rough, varying in different specimens. According to the 

 analysis of Morin, these nuts contain a large proportion of 

 tannic and gallic acids. In India, a kind of Catechu is pre- 

 pared from them, which is known as catta-carnbii. It does not 

 appear in commerce ; and, unless ;j^ % ^ (Ping-lang-hsin) or 

 ^ % W (Ping-lang-kaoi, 1026 and 1027, are this article, it is 

 not known in China. Waring says that it is as good as the 

 Black Catechu obtained from the Acacia catechu; but, inas- 

 much as the Areca nut does not contain any Catechin, this 



