VEGETABLE KINGDOM. I99 



are usually as large as children's marbles, and were formerly 

 much used for washing clothes and the body. They are called 

 BE ^ ^ (Fei-tsao-t'o), and are not allowed to be used in public 

 baths, as they have a strong smell. Foreign soap has now 

 taken the place of these, having even taken the name of this 

 plant for its common name in Chinese vernacular, ^ ^ (Fei- 

 tsao). The seeds are black and smooth, and are called BE ^ i^ 

 (Fei-tsao-ho), Sfi ^ ^ (Fei-tsao-tou), and BE .1: ^ (Fei-tsao- 

 tzii), 298. They were described by Hanbury as being three- 

 fourths of an inch in diameter, of a compressed spherical form, 

 each furnished (when perfect) with a large, rigid, persistent 

 podosperm. A transverse section shows a pair of plane cotyle- 

 dons, between the flat sides of which and the thick, hard testa 

 lies a layer of black, horny albumen. These are edible after 

 roasting, but are more frequently used by the makers of 

 artificial flowers with which to wax- their threads. The pods 

 are the parts principally used in medicine, and are prescribed in 

 rheumatism, dysentery, and hematuria. They are applied to 

 eczema, favus, and venereal sores. It is said that if the pods 

 drop into water which contains goldfish, these latter will die. 

 The seeds are reputed to be carminative in their action. 



GYMNOGONGRUS PINNULATA.— ;^ ^ ||(Lu-chio- 

 ts'ai), ^^ ^ (Hou-k'uei). This is one of the marine algae, found 

 all along the coast of China south of the Yangtse. It grows 

 to the height of three or four inches, and looks like a stag's 

 horns ; hence the name. It is of a purplish yellow color, and 

 is gathered by the natives as food and for medicine. Its taste 

 is very mucilaginous, and it is easily converted into a gelatin- 

 ous mass by cooking in water. Women sometimes use it as a 

 bandoline. It is used medicinally, principally as a demulcent 

 in fevers and colds, and it is said to be very useful in cinnabar 

 poisoning. Its demulcent properties would surely commend it 

 in catarrhal aSections of the bowels or bladder. 



GYMNOGRAMME JAPONICA.— Jg H 1^ (Sha-yea- 



ts'ao). This is a fern which is found growing in old wells, or 

 in other damp places where there is more or less constant shade. 

 The sori, which are found on the fronds, are often exceedingly 



