VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 377 



comes from a woman's kingdom, located east of the country of 

 Fu-lin, and wliich is fragrant, saline, and eaten as a vegetable. 

 These are all said to belong to the same class (possibly of 

 plants having a sour and saline taste). The seeds of the Yen- 

 fii-tzu are said to cure malaria, rheumatism, jaundice, epidemic 

 fevers, coughs, and dysentery. The bark of the tree is astrin- 

 gent and anthelmintic, while that of the root is considered to be 

 cholagogue. 



RHUS SUCCEDANEA.— ^ (i (Huang-lu). This grows 

 in the mountains of Shensi and Szechuan. It has a round leaf 

 and yellow wood which is used in dyeing yellow. It is consid- 

 ered to be antifebrile, anti vinous, cholagogue, and is used in 

 ophthalmia and as a wash for varnish poison. 



RHUS TOXICODENDRON.— In Japan this is §^ a^g 

 (Kou-wen) and ^ '^j (Yeh-ko), and Faber also gives the 

 former name as an equivalent. There is little doubt but that 

 the plant described in the Pentsao under this title is Gelsemiiim 

 elegans (which see). The title refers to the plant and the 

 second term to the root. It is quite possible that this Rhus 

 and Gelsemiiim might be confounded by the Chinese, since 

 both are climbers and have a very superficial resemblance to 

 each other. That the Pentsao does not mention any peculiar 

 poisonous action on the skin, would be presumptive evidence 

 against the identification as Rhus. Nothing is said either of a 

 resinous juice. 



RHUS VERNICIFERA.— f^ (Ch'i). The proper way 

 to write this character is ^ (Ch'i), which represents water 

 dropping out of wood, referring to the sap oozing out and 

 running down. This is the Chinese lacquer tree, found in both 

 China and Japan. The character refers to the varnish and 

 gives a name to the tree. The |t f^ (Kan-ch'i), 62, is used in 

 medicine. This i§ the juice of the tree dessicated and pulver- 

 ized. It is considered to be tonic and stimulant, and is pre- 

 scribed in coughs, intestinal worms, amenorrhoea, and ecchy- 

 moses. The leaves are used in wasting diseases and intestinal 

 parasites, the seeds in dysentery, and the flowers in the swelled 



