304 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



or as a decoction, silver vessels usually being employed for this 

 purpose. Medicinally, the Chinese claim it to be "a tonic 

 to the five viscera, quieting the animal spirits (H jjii^), estab- 

 lishing the soul (^ 1^), allaying fear, expelling evil effluvia, 

 brightening the eye, opening up the heart, benefiting the 

 understanding, and if taken for some time it will invigorate the 

 body and prolong life." Alterative, tonic, stimulant, carmina- 

 tive, and demulcent properties are the ones principally ascribed 

 to it, and it is prescribed in nearly every kind of disease of a 

 severe character, with few exceptions, but with many reserva- 

 tions as to the stage of the disease in which it may be 

 administered with the greatest benefit and safety. All forms 

 of debility, spermatorrhoea, the asthenic hemorrhages, the 

 various forms of severe dyspepsia, the persistent vomiting of 

 pregnant women, chronic malaria, continued fevers, exhaust- 

 ing discharges, old coughs, and polyuria are treated with this 

 drug in confidence of relief and cure. The leaves, ^ ^ (Shen- 

 lu), are sold in bundles of the green, fragrant, excellently 

 preserved foliage of the shrub. They are used as an emetic 

 and expectorant remedy. 



PANAX REPENS.— i ^ (T'u-shen), 1380. This is 

 given in the Customs lists as an article of commerce, but it is 

 not mentioned in the P^ntsao. The Chinese term may also be 

 applied to native ginseng, referring to that produced within 

 China proper, as distinguished from that brought from other 

 places. In Szechuan wild Panax repens is known by the 

 name ^ ^C (Sau-ch'i), 1059, but in other parts of China San- 

 ch^i'\s Gynura pinnaiifida, 



PANICUM CRUS CORVI, Paniann cms galll—1^ 

 (Pai), % % (Wu-ho), m ^ (Shui-pai), ^ ^ (Han-pai). This 

 panic grass takes the place in China of taj'cs and cheats in 

 western countries. It grows plentifully in a wild state almost 

 everywhere, and is found in fields of millet, wheat, and rice. 

 The seed is said to be found in thrashed millet sometimes to 

 the amount of three-tenths of the total bulk. The grain, 

 although somewhat bitter in taste, is edible, and indeed is 

 sometimes used in times of scarcity as a substitute for other 



