VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 275 



of imperfectly divided pills. Tbey have little smell or taste, 

 as they appear ou the Chinese market. Similar substances are 

 dug out of the chalk beds of Travancore and Tinnevelly. 

 Those produced on the root of the bamboo are edited fj" ^ 

 (Chu-ling). The tubers are said to be produced by the thunder- 

 clap metamorphosing the subtile vapors of plants. In the fresh 

 state, they are bitter and cooling in taste, aud slightly poison- 

 ous, and are among the large number of drugs reputed to 

 be prophylactic and antifebrile, are said to benefit the male 

 but not the female, and if taken for a long time result in im- 

 potence. They are recommended in epilepsy, chorea, and 

 other nervous affections of children, and are used for pin worms 

 aud maggots in the fi-esh. 



MYRICA RUBRA.— j^ ;f§ (Yang-mer), \ji J- (Chiu-tzu). 

 This tree is likened to Nephcliii7n^ and its fruit to that of 

 Broiisso7tetia papyri/era or Frag aria. Foreigners call the fruit 

 the " Chinese strawberry.'''* There are three principal varie- 

 ties, determined by the color of the fruit — the white, the red, 

 aud the purple. They are esteemed in the order here given ;. 

 the purple being considered to be the best. They are sour and 

 cooling in taste, and are som~etimes salted or preserved. In 

 this form they are considered to be pectoral and quieting to the 

 stomach. Taken with wine, they prevent the nausea from 

 wine drinking. They are also said to be carminative, aud 

 useful in digestive disturbances, including diarrhcea and dysen- 

 tery. The kernels of the seeds are used in sweating feet, and 

 the bark of the tree and the root are employed in decoction in 

 the treatment of wounds, ulcers, scaly skin diseases, and arsenic 

 poisoning. 



MYRIOGYNE MINUTA.— ;& j^ ^ (Shih-hu-sui). This 

 is a minute plant, growing in the crevices of stones and in 

 moist places among rocks. It is also called 5c ^ ^ (T'ien- 

 hu-sui). It is not edible, and although it is more or less an 

 aquatic plant, geese will not eat it, and for this reason it receives 

 the name ^ ^ ;^ ]^ (E-pu-shih-ts'ao): Its medicinal action is 

 upon the respiratory passages, including the nose. It cures 

 films ou the eyes, hemorrhoids, polypus of the nose, and 



