96 CHINESE MATERIA MEDIC A. 



the clove oil is mentioned as a foreign product, and traders of 

 Macao are credited with having introduced it into China. It is 

 now manufactured in the south, and has become an article of 

 export. Its use as a substitute for the crude drug, and especially 

 its application to aching teeth, is well known and appreciated 

 by the Chinese at the present time. 



CASSIA FISTULA.— Du Halde, who never was in China, 

 but who wrote his work on things Chinese, drawing all of his 

 information from letters of the Jesuit missionaries, says that 

 this tree was found in the province of Yunnan, and was called 

 ^ ^ -^f 3^ (Ch'atig-kuo-tzu-shn,. It is said that the pods are 

 collected in Kuangsi and exported. Dr. Williams gives 

 ^itt tt W (Huai-hua-ch'ing) as the name of the fruit. He 

 describes the pulp as "reddish and sweet, and not so drastic 

 as the American sort ; if gathered before the seeds are ripe, its 

 taste is somewhat sharp." No other authorities are found for 

 this plant occurring in China, and it is not mentioned in the 

 Peiifsao. The Customs Lists do not mention it ; so, if exported 

 as Williams claims, it must be by land routes. The subject is 

 worthy of investigation. Waring, in the Pharmacopoeia of 

 India, quotes Dr. Irvine as stating that the root of this tree 

 acts as a very strong purgative. 



CASSIA MIMOSOIDES. — llj H S (Shan-pien-tou^ ; 

 Cassia occidcntalis, g? ^ ft (Wang-chiang-nan) and ;5" ^ BjJ 

 (Shih-chlieh-ming); Cassia sophcra and Cassia tora^ ^ 0^ 

 ■ Chiieh-ming) and :^ ^ 0J3 (Ts'ao-chlieh-ming), 1341. With 

 slioht exceptions, the Chinese make no distinction between 

 these species. The Pentsao uses Ts'^ao-cJiiich-viing for Cclosia 

 argentea. At Peking, Wang-chiang-nan is a common name 

 for Cassia sophera. Another name for the Cassia viiniosoides 

 is |£ -^ •% 0J (Chiang-mang-chiieh-ming. ) The proper way of 

 writing the character Chileh is as above, although it is most 

 frequently written \^. Kanghsi's Dictionary also uses ^ % 

 (Chiieh-kuang), a synonym of ^ BJ- ^ ^ "J is also used for 

 the shell of Haliotis funebris, 1144. 



Hupeh and Kuangtung are given by the Customs Lists as 

 the sources of the drug, Shensi, Kansuh, and Hunan are also 



