VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 133 



dysentery, in delayed menstruation, and similar troubles. It 

 is also adaiinistered in ranula, apoplexy, paralysis, toothache, 

 and affections of the throat. Externally it is applied in com- 

 bination with rape-seed oil in various skin affections. The 

 seeds in coarse powder are also recommended in various kinds 

 of drug poisoning. The oil is used in much the same classes 

 of cases, as well as being used for very much the same purposes, 

 as it is employed in the west. The testa is only recommended 

 for fluxes. The bruised root is applied in carbuncle and 

 cancerous sores. 



CRYPTOT^NIA CANADENSIS.— f" |f (Tang-kuei), 

 1250. Faber identifies this umbelliferous plant as the ordi- 

 nary ho)ieyzvort of North America. Hanbury identifies it errone- 

 ously with Aralia edulis^ and Tatarinov as Levisticiim. The 

 Japanese make it to be Ligitsticiim or Angelica. The root of 

 this plant represents the drug, which is held in very high repute 

 among the Chinese. It ranks next to licorice in frequency of 

 use in prescriptions. It comes principally from the three 

 western provinces, but is also prepared in Shansi, Shantung, 

 and Chihli. It is met with in the form of brown, fleshy root- 

 stocks, branching and dividing into a mass of large, close, 

 pliant rootlets, something like gentian root. The interior is 

 soft, sometimes mealy, and of a whitish or yellow color, or 

 sometimes much darker. The odor is very strong, resembling 

 that of celery, and the taste is sweetish, warm, and aromatic. 

 Names by which it is also called are ^] ]|jf (Shan-ch'in) and j^ 

 ^ (Pai-ch'in*, which mean "mountain" or " white celery," 

 and it is compared to Aphnn graveolens^ and, indeed, is said by 

 Siebold to be eaten like celery in Japan, though we do not find 

 that it is so used in China. The drug is much used by medical 

 men in China in the treatment of the menstrual, chlorotic, and 

 puerperal diseases of women. It is used in hemorrhages of all 

 kinds, colds, fluxes, dyspeptic complaints, ague, and a large 

 number of other difficulties. Its name is said to be derived 

 from its asserted power to make the female "revert" to 

 her husband, and much of its employment is probably to be 

 referred to the wish of Chinese women to stimulate their 

 generative organs, in order to increase their opportunities of 



