VEGETABLE KINGDOM. I 89 



chia chinensis in some respects. In the Pentsao^ Sukiing says 

 in regard to it : "It is an inferior sort. The pod is crooked, 

 thin, uncomely, and not succulent. When used for washing, 

 it does not remove the dirt. The pods, which are two feet 

 long, are coarse and dry. The best are those which are only 

 from six to seven inches long." Hanbury received some of 

 these pods, and he described them as follows: "They are 

 from two to four inches long, and from 3/10 to 5/10 of an inch 

 broad, more or less sickle-shaped and compressed, their upper 

 edge prolonged into a narrow wing. The anterior extremity 

 is pointed, the posterior attenuated into a short stalk. The 

 pods are indehiscent, and have thick, pulpy valves, which are 

 extremely smooth and of a deep brown. The substance of the 

 pod, when chewed, even in very small quantity, produces an 

 extremely disagreeable sense of acridity in the fauces." He 

 suggests Prosopis as an identification. The medical uses of 

 these pods are not distinguished from those of Gleditschia 

 chinensis^ although they are regarded as inferior to the latter. 



GLYCINE HISPIDIA. — :1c % (Ta-tou), :^, |^, and ^ 

 (Shu), ^ W, (Jen-shu), ^ H (Jung-shu), J\ j£ (Shih-tou), 

 H % (Hei-tou), '% "^ (Huang-tou). This is the same as Soja 

 hispidia and Dolichos soia^ and is the Chinese and Japanese 

 soy bean. It has been known in China from ancient times, 

 and has always been considered by the Chinese as the most 

 important of the cultivated leguminous plants. A very large 

 number of varieties is found throughout the Empire, especially 

 in the north. The name "great bean" applies to the plant, 

 not to the seeds, as these are quite small. It is employed in 

 China and Japan in the preparation of three products which 

 are of almost universal use in oriental cookery. These are 

 "beau oil," "bean-curd," and "soy." There are many varie- 

 ties of this bean, which the Chinese distinguish by the color 

 of the seeds ; these being black, white, yellow, gray, azure, and 

 spotted. The black sort is used in medicine, and the yellow 

 is specially valued in the preparation of bean-curd and soy. 

 The black kind is not much used as food, as it is thought to 

 render the body heavy. The Chinese regard those things 

 which give lightness to the body with more favor than those 



