70 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



Under the name of '"'• Ngai-campJior^'''' a steareopten, 

 isomeric with Borneo camphor, is said to be extracted from this 

 plant. The greater part of this snbstance which appears in 

 Chinese commerce, seems to come from the island of Hainan. 

 It is but little used in Northern or Central China, probably on 

 account of its cost ; its valuation at Tientsin being placed at 

 five hundred Haikuan Taels a picul, while that of ordinary 

 laurel camphor is only twelve Taels. It comes in three forms : 

 ^ 1^ (Ai-fen), 2, which is the crude product ; '^ j=|^ (Ai-p'ien), 

 5, the refined substance in cakes ; and '^ ^] (Ai-yu), 8, a by- 

 product of distillation. It is used in the south-eastern provinces 

 as a febrifuge and carminative, and is held in higher repute 

 than laurel camphor for all purposes for which the latter is 

 used. Hanbury has an interesting note on this substance in his 

 Science Papers, in which he says that it is not only used in 

 medicine, but also in the manufacture of the scented kinds of 

 Chinese ink. 



BCEHMERIA NIVEA.— ^ )g (Ch'u-ma\ This is the 

 plant from which is produced the " grass cloth," so extensively 

 worn throughout China, the finer qualities of which are not 

 despised by ladies of Western lands. In the classics the charac- 

 ter is written f,f Chu). Prior to the eleventh century there is no 

 record of where it was produced, although it was known from 

 ancient times as a textile plant. Su-sung, who wrote in the 

 eleventh century, said that it was at that time grown in 

 Fukien, Szechuan, Chekiang, and Kiangnan. Lu-chi, who 

 lived in the third century, and wrote a book describing the 

 plants and animals mentioned in the Book of Odes, said that 

 the government then raised the plant in gardens. He also 

 described the manner of preparation of the material. An iron 

 or bamboo knife was used to strip ofi" the bark. After the thick 

 outer bark was removed, the soft, tough fibers of the inner 

 bark were taken and boiled, after which they were twisted into 

 thread and this manufactured into cloth. At present the fibers 

 of the stalks are soaked in a solution of native soda, beaten 

 and broken up with a rake-like tool, and heated in a dry 

 boiler. This is then twisted and manufactured into cloth, 

 which the Chinese call % ^ (Hsia-pu), " summer cloth." In 



