268 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



of cold (^, Feng). They are also diuretic and pectoral. A 

 lye made of the ashes of mulberry wood is used as a stimulant 

 and escharotic in scaly skin diseases and unhealthy granula- 

 tions. The bark of the tree is sometimes used to dye a brown 

 color. The Chinese claim that the seeds procured from the 

 excrement of fowls and ducks which have been fed upon the 

 berries, produce plants that are more likely to grow to leaf 

 than to fruit, and are therefore more suitable for silk worm 

 rearing. 



MOSLA GROSSESERRATA.— ^^ (Chi-ning). This 

 is a labiate plant, which, on account of its foul odor is called 

 ^ i^ (Ch'ou-su), and on account of the color of its leaves is 

 called ^ ^ ^ (Ch'jng-pai-su). It is likened to Stachys 

 aspera. It grows almost everywhere on plains, and has a 

 hirsute leaf with a bad odor. The poor people eat it, but the 

 taste is not very pleasant. The stalk and leaves are used in 

 medicine, are considered to be carminative and warming, and 

 are recommended in heart-burn. 



MOSLA PUNCTATA.— Jg ^ p (Shih-chi-ning). In 

 Japan "^ ^ (Chio-chuang) is given as an equivalent for this 

 plant, but this name applies properly to Jtisticia prociivibens. 

 The drug is used as a warming and carminative remedy, and 

 in decoction as a wash for parasitic skin diseases. It grows 

 among the rocks in mountainous districts to the height of one 

 or two feet. It has small leaves and purple flowers. The hill 

 people employ it as a substitute for the last. 



MUCILAGE.— 7K If (Shui-chiao). Chinese mucilage is 

 very good, and is usually made from seaweed, to which is 

 added a little alum. Other substances are also used : such as 

 some of the raalvaceous plants and fruits, the bungtali fruits, 

 the gum from the peach tree {1^ ^, T'ao-chiao) and that from 

 the plum tree i^ fl^, Shu-chiao), all affording excellent 

 material for making mucilage, and being used as demulcent 

 remedies. But the thing most commonly used in China, both 

 for suspending insoluble drugs and as a paste for adhesive 

 purposes^ is rice congee. It is an efficient instrument, usually 



