260 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



MARSILIA QUADRIFOLIA.— .^ (P'in). There is some 

 confounding this with Hydrocharis^ Lenaia^ and LimnantJie- 

 mtwi^ both in China and Japan. This is a larger plant than 

 the others. It has leaves about an inch in diameter, which 

 float on the surface of the water, while the root is at the bottom 

 of the pond. The leaves are arranged in a quadriform manner, 

 and for this reason the plant is called ^ ^ (Ssu-yeh-ts'ai) 

 and £3 ^ !i^ (T'ien-tzu-ts'ao). Marsilia is a pseudo-fern, and 

 has no flowers, and so when Chinese writers speak of white 

 and yellow flowered varieties, they confound this with Letfuia 

 and other plants. The drug is considered to be cooling, 

 diuretic, resolvent, and constructive. Its juice is applied locally 

 to snake bites and ulcers. 



MATRICARIA INDICA.—gi ^ ^ (Yeh-chii-hua). An- 

 theniis^ Calendula^ and Chrysanthevium are not clearly 

 distinguished from this by the Chinese. Another name given 

 in the Pentsao is ^ ^ (K'u-i). It grows plentifully in waste 

 land. In Japan it is identified as Pyrethrinn indicurn. The 

 whole plant is used in medicine. Administered in decoction, 

 it is considered to be resolvent, but it is used principally as 

 a fomentation to swellings, boils, tuberculous glands, and 

 inflamed eyes. 



MEDIC AGO SATIVA.— -g #" (Mu-su). This is one of 

 the plants said to have been brought to China by General 

 Chang Chien of the Han dynasty. Its foreign origin is in- 

 dicated by the fact that its Chinese name is variously written 

 with characters of similar sound. It also has a name derived 

 from a Buddhist book, in which the characters ^ jft i;^ jfe (Sai- 

 pi-li-ka) evidently stand for an Indian name, possibly sibarga^ 

 which is the common name for Trifoliiiin gigantetim in Kabul. 

 Medicago saliva is there called rishka. In Europe the flowers 

 of this plant are usually purple or blue ; but here they are 

 yellow. For this reason the plant is sometimes thought to be 

 Medicago denticidata. Faber identifies this latter with ^ 0^ 

 (Ts'ao-t'ou), 1351, ox ^'l(jc,% (Chin-hua-ts'ai), 153. Neither 

 of these names is found in the Phitsao. He also indentifies 

 Medicago lupulina with ^ :g ;j^ (Niu-yiin-ts'ao) or ^ ^ 



