. VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 313 



also given to those who are suffering from hallucinations, which 

 would indicate that the fattening of the pigs could not be a 

 hallucination ! 



PEDICULARIS RESUPINATA.— ^^ ^ ^ (Ma-hsien- 

 hao) ; properly ^ ^ 7^" (Ma-shih-hao), because the herbage 

 has the odor of horse excrement. It bears a reddish tinted, 

 white flower. The herbage is gathered in the second and 

 eighth moons and dried for medicine. It is used in fevers, 

 rheumatism, leucorrhoea, sterility, urinary difficulties, and in 

 decoction as a wash to foul sores. This plant is confounded 

 with Ayic}}iisia japoiiica and Incarvillca sinensis. 



PEDICULARIS SCEPTRUM CAROLINUM.— ^ % 

 (Lin-hao), f^ '% (0-hao). This is a Japanese identification, 

 and somewhat uncertain as to the Chinese plant. It grows in 

 swampy places, and can be eaten raw or cooked. It is fragrant. 

 Its properties are considered to be resolvent and carminative. 



PERILLA OCIMOIDES.— ^ jf (Tzu-su), 1417. Li 

 Shih-chen distinguishes two varieties of this plant, the purple 

 and the white, g |^ (Pai-su), according to the color of the 

 leaves. The young leaves are eaten as a vegetable, also 

 pickled with plums. They are used to prepare a fragrant 

 beverage. The seeds, 1202, grow in capsules, and are about 

 as large as mustard seeds, and an oil is expressed from them 

 called ^ -^ fft (Su-tzii-yu). The seeds are also fed to ducks 

 under the name of ;^ ^ (Kuei-jen). The stalk and the leaves, 

 1203, are used for driving away colds, as a stomachic and 

 tonic, in cholera, and to benefit the alimentary canal. They 

 are considered to be diaphoretic and pectoral, and antidotal to 

 fish and flesh poison. The seeds have similar properties and 

 uses, and are also thought to be highly nutritious. They are 

 also prescribed in rheumatism, seminal losses, asthma, and 

 obstinate coughs. 



PERSE A NANMU.— fi (Nan). The character is more 

 commonly written \^. This is a large tree found in the 

 province of Szechuan, and furnishes the highly esteemed 

 nanniu^ a tough wood which does not easily rot, and which 



