VEGETABLE KINGDOM. lOI 



Cassia tora ; the former being frequently found mixed with the 

 latter in the shops. The plant is found throughout the country, 

 but the drug supply comes principally from Fukien and 

 Kuangtung. It is a troublesome weed among the farmer's 

 crops, but the common people gather it and consume it as a 

 vegetable. The stalk and leaves, bruised and applied as a 

 poultice, are used in infected sores, wounds, and skin eruptions, 

 and the juice, taken internally, is considered to have special 

 virtues in pestilential difficulties. To the seeds are attributed 

 cooling, anti-scorbutic, anthelmintic, vulnerary, and tonic 

 properties ; and they enjoy an equal reputation with Cassia 

 tora in the treatment of afifections of the eye. Three-tenths of 

 a pint of the juice of the seed forced into the nostril is 

 considered to be a sure cure for epistaxis. 



CELOSIA CRISTATA.— 'lil^(Chi-kuan\ 'X^\\\s cock' s- 

 comb^ which by some is regarded as a variety of the last, is a 

 common weed in China, although it is also extensively culti- 

 vated as a garden flower. The prevailing colors of the flowers 

 are red, yellow, and white, and the seeds are flat, black, and 

 glossy. The red flowered variety is the one preferred in medi- 

 cine, and consequently is fancifully supposed to benefit all 

 diseases of the blood, such as hemorrhages, fluxes, piles, 

 menorrhagia, and deficiency of the lochia. The young shoots, 

 the flowers (50), and the seeds (51), are the parts used. 



CELTIS. — According to Henry, Celiis sinensis is ;f|» 

 or ^ (P'o). In Japan -f^ is Celtis muku ( Homoioceltis aspera)^ 

 and ;;|;^ is Celtis sinetisis. These do not seem to be mentioned 

 in the Pentsao. In Japan ^ |§ (Sung-yang) is also Celtis mnkie 

 or Ehretia serrata^ which is a synonym. But Sjing-yang in 

 China has been indentified by Henry as Cornus inachrophylla 

 (which see). This shrub bears an edible fruit, and it has been 

 suggested that it may be a Prunus. As for the i^ (P'o), it is 

 possible that this refers to the /p ;^[* (Hou-p'o) of the Pentsao^ 

 which is extensively used in medicine, and is Magnolia 

 hypoleuca (which see). 



CERCIS CHINENSIS.— ^ fj (Tztt-ching), 1408. This 

 is the Judas tree or Red bud^ of the order of Legufninosce, 



