138 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



flatulence and choleraic symptoms. Also, in combination with 

 other things, it is used in purulent expectoration and as a 

 wash to chronic ulcers. The ash pf the old bark is a common 

 application to wounds, scalds, and burns. The leaves, decocted 

 in wine together with Conioselinum and Asar'nm^ iare used in 

 the treatment of worms and toothache. The seeds arfe Employed, 

 one to be ingested for each year of age, for the treatment of 

 hernia. The epiphyte, called >^ ]^ (Shan-chiin), is considered 

 to be antispasmodic and carminative. 



CUPRESSUS.— tfi (Po). This is Faber's identification, 

 and Henry says that at Ichang the Po is Cupressus funebris. 

 Dr. Williams sets the %_ ffi (Pien-po) down as Cupressus thy- 

 oidcs. But undoubtedly in the north, as also in Japan, Po 

 refers to Thuja {Biota) orientalis. Discussion of this plant will 

 therefore be reserved for this latter title. 



CURCUMA LONGA.— ^^(Yii-chin), 1545, 1546. The 

 first character of this name refers to a fragrant plant which, 

 in the classical period, was mixed with the sacrificial wine 

 called 1^ (Ch'ang), prepared from black millet. The whole 

 name refers to the yellow tubers of the plant, described by 

 Hanbury as being "oblong or ovate, tapering at either end, 

 from three-fourths to one and a-fourth inch in length, covered 

 externally with a thin, adherent, brownish-grey cuticle, usually 

 (but not invariably) smooth. When broken, they exhibit a 

 shining fracture, and are seen to consist of a hard, semi-trans- 

 parent, horny, orange-yellow substance, easily separable into 

 two portions, an inner and an outer. The tubers have an aro- 

 matic odor, and a slight taste resembling turmeric, and contain 

 an abundance of starch." In Japan this plant is considered to 

 be a variety {machrophylla) of Curcuma loyiga. According to 

 the Pentsao it is indigenous to the country of ;^ ^ fTa Ch'in), 

 which comprised parts of what is now Kausu and Shensi prov- 

 inces, or possibly was Syria. It is also found in Szechuen and 

 Thibet. The root, which is one of the many forms of turmeric 

 found in commerce, is used for dyeing women's clothes. It is 

 employed medicinally in all sorts of hemorrhages, such as 

 hematuria, hematemesis, hemoptysis, post-partum hemorrhage, 



