VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 59 



is assigned to Solamim nigritm. But neither of these terms is 

 given in the Phitsao^ or in any other Chinese work examined. 



In the Pentsao^ under the head of an unidentified Solana- 

 ceous plant called ^^^ (Tso-na-ts'ao), there is an appended 

 account of a similar drug called ^Ip ;j; ^ (Ya-pu-lu), the effects 

 of which resemble those oi Atropa mandragora. It is said that 

 after the administration of a small quantity of the tincture, a 

 profound anaesthesia was produced, during which operations 

 might be performed witli perfect freedom from pain. The 

 effects of the drug lasted for three days. The drug is said to 

 have come from the country of the Mohammedan tribes north 

 of China, and is thought to have been the drug used by the 

 celebrated surgeon, Hua-t'o, in certain operations upon wound- 

 ed intestine. There is no description of the plant, so its 

 identification awaits investigation. 



AVENA FATUA. % ^ (Ch'iao-mai), ti ^ (Yen-raai). 

 Oats is seldom cultivated in China, although this wild variety 

 is sometimes collected in times of dearth and used in making 

 bread. The grain is considered to be nutritious and demulcent. 

 A decoction of the shoots of growing grain is given to parturient 

 women to excite uterine contractions, as in retained placenta. 

 This action may be due to the growth of an ergot upon the 

 shoots. In Japan the above terms are used for different 

 gramineous plants; the first being Bronnis japoniciis^ while the 

 second is Brachypodium sylvatiaim. The Avena fatua is 

 called ^ ^ (Yen-mai), but in China this first character is only 

 a varied way of writing ^. 



AVERRHOA CARAMBOLA. 35. ^ ^ (Wu-han-tzu), 

 56. ft •? (Wu-leng-tzii), p^ )(% (Yang-t'ao), The second charac- 

 ter in the first name is in the south a colloquial substitute for 

 the second character in the second name. The meaning of this 

 name is "five ridges," and refers to the shape of the fruit, 

 which is compared to that of the stone roller with which the 

 Chinese farmer rolls down his fields after sowing grain. This 

 fruit is the so-called "Chinese gooseberry," which is met with 

 in the southern provinces of Fukien, Kuangtung, and Kuangsi, 

 but is scarcely known in the north. In its natural habitat it is 



