VEGETABLE KINGDOM. I39 



and wounds. It is also recommended in primarj^ syphilis, 

 mania, and "worm poison." Excessive sweating, arsenic 

 poisoning, and the distress attending hemorrhages are said to 

 be reliev^ed by it. It is also used in veterinary practice. 



Another variety (possibly species) of Curcu)na is known 

 by the name of ^ ^ (Chiang-huang), 75. Chinese authors are 

 not clear about this product ; some saying that there are three 

 forms of the root — yellow, black, and white — while others claim 

 that these are three distinct varieties. Ch'en Ts'ang-ch'i (8th 

 Century) says that the root of the Yii-ching is bitter, cooling, and 

 red in color ; the Chiang-huang is acrid and warming, and the 

 color yellow ; while a third kind, called \^ ~^ (Shu-yao), — see 

 Kicmpferia pioidurata — is bitter and black in color. Other 

 varieties are said to be brought from Persia and other western 

 countries. The dried root stocks, which are the Chinese turmeric 

 of commerce, are met with in hard, irregular, tuberculated 

 pieces of a light yellow color externally, and internally varying 

 in color from orange to saffron-yellow. The smell is aromatic, 

 and the taste agreeable, with a bitterish after-taste. In the 

 south a sliced form of a larger tuber, known as '^ ^l j^ 

 (Chiang-huang-p'ien), 76, is found. This may be the so-called 

 Cochin tur}neric of commerce. These products are, for the most 

 part, exported to India, as the Chinese do not use them much 

 as condiments. They employ them to some extent as a dye 

 and prescribe them in colic, congestions, hemorrhages, and as 

 an external application to some intractable diseases of the skin. 

 They are especially recommended in cancerous discharges. Dr. 

 Waring advises inhalations of the fumes of burning turmeric 

 in coryza, and approves of a decoction of turmeric as a wash 

 for eyes suffering from catarrhal and purulent ophthalmia. 



The plant spoken of at the head of this article is evidently 

 mentioned in the P^nisao under the title of i^ ^ @ ( Yii-chin- 

 bsiang). Other names are |^ j;^ ^ (Tzu-shu-hsiang), ^ ^ § 

 (Ts'ao-she-hsiang, "vegetable musk "), and ^^g J^ (Ch'a-chii- 

 mo) ; this last being a Buddhist name. It was formerly sent as 

 tribute by the ^ (Yii) tribes, and from this the present f| ;^ 

 (Yii-lin) in Kuangsi derives its name. Ch'en Ts'ang-ch'i 

 says that it comes from the country of ^ (Ch'in), and bears a 

 flower like the safflower. Li Shih-chen says that besides being 



