vegetabi:k kingdom. 349 



lanceolate. It bears a yellow flower, and the root is about the 

 size of a finger, with a red skin and white flesh. The seed is 

 shaped like that of coriander. Tlie root is eaten both raw and 

 cooked, children preferring it in the former condition. Its me- 

 dicinal properties are those of an astringent, and it is prescribed in 

 hematemesis, hematuria, menorrhagia, malaria, and carbuncle. 



POTENTILLA WALLICHIANA.— fig ^ (She-han). 

 See Geum dryadoides. 



POTERIUM OFFICINALE.— ji^ It (Ti-yii). This is 

 the same as Poteriian sangiiisorba^ the common biirnet. Its 

 leaves slightly resemble those of the elm and spread over the 

 ground, and these facts give rise to the Chinese name, "ground 

 elm." The root is long, tough, wrinkled, and fibrous, brown 

 externally, and of a pink or yellowish color internally. It is 

 astringent and slightly bitter to the taste, and is u.sed as a 

 styptic, astringent, vulnerary, and anodyne remedy. It is 

 prescribed in post-partum difficulties, wounds, ulcers, dysentery, 

 hemorrhages, snake and insect bites, and skin diseases. 

 The leaves are used as a substitute for tea, and are considered 

 to be cooling in fevers. 



POWDERS. — The Chinese use anumber of these; some for 

 internal medication, some for external use, and one for insuf- 

 flation into the throat. They nearly all go by the name of ^ 

 (San), and consist of one or more drugs specially prepared, 

 dried, and thoroughly powdered. The following are a few of 

 the more popular. 



Amber Powder ; i^l; JQ ffc (Hu-p'o-san). It is made as 

 follows : Take of amber, one ounce ; turtle shell, one ounce ; 

 Cyperus rotundus, one ounce ; Corydalis ambigua, one-half 

 ounce ; myrrh, one-half ounce ; rhubarb, one-fourth ounce. 

 These are to be all heated together and beaten into a powder. 

 The drug is considered to be styptic and tonic, and it is used 

 after labor with a view to restoring the normal circulation of 

 the blood, in whicli case the rhubarb is left out. 



Atractylis Powder ,- ^ yft ^ (Tsang-shu-san). Atractylis 

 ovata is dried and prepared by a complicated process, the value 



