194 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



top of vinegar in its process of preparation. The pellicle 

 contains, in addition to the viycetes of fermentation, various 

 kinds of moulds and mildews, and its composition is probably 

 not at all uniform. The method of preparation is given 

 as follows: '*Take a peck of black beans and thoroughly 

 steam them. Spread upon matting and cover with artemisia 

 stalks, as in the process of preparing soy. When the pellicle 

 is formed on top, take it off, dry in the sun and powder, 

 when it is ready for use. The taste is sweet and cooling, 

 and the substance is non-poisonous. It is specially recommended 

 in the treatment of rheumatism, especially that of the knees, 

 for the insufficient action of the five viscera, spleen, and 

 stomach, giving strength to the body, lubricating the muscles 

 and skin, improving the complexion, invigorating the marrow, 

 and toning up the system generally, enabling one to eat 

 fats. It is sometimes combined with pork fat and made 

 into pills for producing flesh. A hundred pills should be 

 taken at one time. Fat people should not use this substance. 

 Chewed into a paste and applied to eczema, it proves very 

 efficacious. 



Bean Curd. — ^ ^ (Tou-fu). The method of making 

 bean curd had its origin in the Han dynasty, during the 

 reign of Huai Nan Wang (A.D. 23), at Liuan. All sorts 

 of black beans, yellow beans, white beans, clay beans, 

 green beans, and peas can be used in its preparation. The 

 process of manufacturing is given in the Pintsao as follows : 

 *'Wash the beans and crush them in water. Skim oflf 

 what floats, and boil. Make a natron solution, or a decoction 

 of the leaves of Shan-fan ( |lj ^), Symplocos pruiiifolia^ or 

 use sour soy vinegar, and add to the beans. Heat all together 

 in a caldron. Afterwards pour into a large jar in which 

 has been placed powdered gypsum and mix well together. 

 What will be produced is a saltish, bitterish, sour, acrid mix- 

 ture, and what congeals upon the surface of the compound 

 is to be taken out and dripped clean of the other solution. 

 This is bean-cicrd.''^ The taste is sweet, alkaline, and cooling. 

 It is considered to be slightly deleterious. It is thought that 

 the ingestion of bean curd prevents the curing of diseases, 

 but if carrots are put with the bean curd, this action is pre- 



