VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 6 1 



B. 



BALANOPHERA.— II ^ (So-yang), 1189. Whether 

 this is a correct identification, or whether it is an Orobaticha^ 

 is not quite certain. The Chinese make it out to be a kind of 

 ^ ^ (Ts'ung-yung), which is Orobancha. The Pentsao S2iys 

 that it grows in the country of the Mongol Tartars, and comes 

 up in places where the wild horse and scaly dragon have 

 dropped semen, which sinks into the ground and after a time 

 springs up in a form like the bamboo shoot. The upper part 

 is succulent and the lower dry. It is covered with scales and 

 resembles the penis. It is said that lecherous women among 

 the Tartars use it for the purpose of masturbation, and that 

 when the root comes in contact with the female organ it 

 becomes erect, as in the case of the organ it is said to resemble. 

 It is a remarkable fact that an allied species in America goes 

 by the vulgar term of "squaw root ; " a similar reason for so 

 calling it being there adduced. The drug which enters the 

 Chinese markets probably largely comes from Mongolia, but 

 the Customs Reports credit Szechuan and Hupeh with being 

 its places of production. The root is fleshy, reddish-brown in 

 color, having a more or less wrinkled surface. In accordance 

 with the Chinese ideas as to the origin of this root, it is con- 

 sidered to be aphrodisiac to women and to promote the secre- 

 tion of semen in men. It is also thought to be stimulant and 

 tonic to the intestinal tract. 



BALSAMODENDRON MYRRHA.— ^ ^ (Mu-yao), 

 879. The name is also written ^ |^ ; the first character in 

 each case being said to be a transliteration of the Sanscrit term. 

 The drug originally came from Persia, and was said to resemble 

 benzoin. Its mode of collection, as given by Li Shih-chen, is 

 by incision of the bark of the tree and collecting the exudation 

 as it congeals. It is reddish-black in color and more or less 

 admixed with other substances. The product, as found in the 

 Chinese drug shops, has a bitter taste and but little of the smell 

 of genuine myrrh. It is said now to be produced to some 

 extent in the south of China. Its medical uses are considered 



