154 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



DIPHYLLEIA.— ^ ^ (Kiiei-cliiii), ^ Ijtfl -;§ (Tn-chio-lien), 

 A f^ j^ (Pa-cbio-lieii). Faber identifies the first as AHscsma 

 heterophylla^ and in Hiipeh the second also signifies Ariscema. 

 Henry found the last to be Podophyllmn versipelle^ while Bret- 

 schneider found that plants raised from Tn-chio-lien seed pro- 

 cured at Peking proved to be Typhcniium gigantenm. It is not 

 quite clear whether Kjiei-chin is Diphylleia or Podophyllum. A 

 large number of names are given in the Pentsao as the equiva- 

 lents oi Kuei-chin^ but it is probable that several different plants 

 are confounded in these names. The plant described grows 

 in shady places in mountains. It seems to be akin to the North 

 American "umbrella plant." The root is perennial, and each 

 year sends up a stalk, which on dying at the end of the season 

 leaves a depression, or "eye," which is likened to a mortar 

 f3). Anthelmintic and antiseptic properties are ascribed to the 

 drug, which consists of the root of the plant, and it is used in the 

 treatment of coughs, malaria, cancerous sores, snakebite and 

 arrow poisoning, retained dead foetns, and pernicious janndice. 

 That the root itself is regarded as poisonous may be inferred 

 from the variety of virulent diseases for which it is prescribed. 



DIPSACUS.— If if (Hsii-tuan), 474. At Peking this is 

 Dipsacus japoniciis^ but at Hankow it is Dipsacus asper. In 

 Japan it is Laviiiim album. It is also called ^ ^ (Chieh-ku), 

 as it is considered capable of joining together broken bones. 

 The roots are met with in commerce in short pieces, very hard, 

 brown, and wrinkled, and of a dirty white color in the interior. 

 The taste is sweetish, mucilaginous, and with a bitterish after- 

 taste. The root is the part used in medicine. It is considered 

 to be tonic in exhausting diseases, wounds, tumors, fractures, 

 and ruptured tendons (as its names indicate), suppression of the 

 secretion of milk, dysmenorrhoea, hemorrhage, and is employed 

 in hemorrhoids, cancer of the breast, ante- and post-partum 

 difficulties of every kind, incontinence of urine, and threatened 

 abortion. The best quality of the drug is called ]\\ ^ ^ 

 (Ch 'uan-hsii-tuan). 



DOLICHOS CULTRATUS.— 1,| S (Ch'iao-tou). This 

 is a Japanese identification of a bean similar to Dolichos lablab^ 

 but black in color, with a white line through the hilum, on 



