VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 305 



cereals. Its use is said to benefit the breath and to act on the 

 spleen. The shoots and roots are used bruised as an applica- 

 tion to wounds to check hemorrhage. 



PANICUM FRUMENTACEUM.— ff -^ (Shan-tzu). It 

 is not certain that this is not Elcusinc indica^ the '•'- raggi'''* 

 of India. Both were found by Staunton in Shantung, the 

 former cultivated and the latter wild. It is also called || ^ ^ 

 (Lung-chao-su), " dragon's-claw-millet," and f||| /I^ |^ (Ya- 

 chao-pai), *' duck's-claw-tare," on account of the shape of its 

 head. It grows in moist ground, and somewhat resembles 

 Paniann cms corvi^ having a grain like Pmiicum miliaceum^ 

 but smaller. It is cultivated in Shantung and Honan. The 

 grain is red, and has a rough taste when prepared as food. It 

 has no particular medicinal uses, but is considered to be tonic, 

 nutritious, and strengthening, preserving health and warding 

 off disease. 



PANICUM MILIACEUM.— ^> (Chi) seems to be a 

 general name for the species while ^ (Ch'i) seems to refer 

 more properly to the non-glutinous variety. ^ (Shu) is the 

 term for the glutinous variety. ^ (TzQ) is another common 

 name for \\\^ panicicd viillet. This comprises two of the 31 ^ 

 (Wu-ku) of Shcnnung, the others being rice, wheat and barley, 

 and the soy bean. Of the six grains of the Choiili^ it also 

 forms two, the others being rice, Setaria italica^ wheat, and 

 Hydropyrum ,• and of the nine grains enumerated in another 

 part of the C/iouh\ it again forms two, the others being Setaria 

 italica glutinosa^ rice, hemp, soy bean, Phaseoliis beans, 

 barley, and wheat. Both varieties have been known and 

 cultivated in China from the earliest times, and are probably 

 indigenous, the characters being exceedingly ancient. The 

 first character refers to the necessity of careful plowing for the 

 grain (^ and 7^), the second to a grain suitable for sacrifice 

 (tj^ and ^), while the third is a grain for the manufacture of 

 spirits by fermentation (^ \ 7JC). The fact that the Chinese 

 distinguish so clearly between these two varieties of panicled 

 millet has led Legge, Biot, and other translators of the classics 

 to translate 1^ by ''rice," "sorghum," and other similar 



