386 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



s. 



SACCHARUM OFFICINARUM. — "jt :KKan-che). The 

 earliest account of the sji^ar-cane in China dates from the 

 second century before Christ, and the characters were then 

 written ^ H (Kan-che), the radical indicating the sweetness of 

 the plant. The name is also written ^ ^ (Kan-che), referring 

 to the reed-like character of the stalk. In the Shiiozven it is 

 termed ^ (Che). Under these characters are included both 

 Saccharum officinarum and Sorghum saccharatitm. The 

 Chinese distinguish several kinds ; such as fi ^ (Tu-che) or 

 ft ^ (Chu-che), which is used for making sugar ; W |^ (Hsi- 

 che), also used for making sugar ; ^ ^ (Le-che), i^ ^; (La-che), 

 or fj^ ^ (Ti-che), which is Sorghum saccharatum ; and ^X ^ 

 (Hung-che), % ^ (Tzii-cbe), or E ^ ^^ (K'un-lun-che), 

 which is used principally for chewing in the fresh state. The 

 sugar-cane is grown in Kiangsi, Szechuan, Hunan, Chekiang, 

 Fukien, Formosa, and Kuangtung, largely as a substance for 

 chewing, but also for the manufacture of sugar and treacle. 

 This latter use has been much on the increase as foreign inter- 

 course with China has developed. The ingestion of the cane 

 with wine is thought to increase phlegm, and if eaten in 

 excess it is said to produce feverishness and nosebleed. The 

 use of the juice is considered to be cooling, tussic, stomachic, 

 and anti vinous. The bagasse, ^, is incinerated and mixed 

 with black juniper oil, % |^ fffj, as an application to the sore 

 heads of children. 



Raw sugar is called ^ |§ (Sha-t'ang) or ^ |^ (Tzii-t'ang). 

 The second character is now more commonly written |lg 

 (T'ang). The name is derive'd from the fact that in the Tang 

 (jife) dynasty, during the reign of the Emperor Tai-tsung, the 

 method of boiling the juice of the crushed cane was introduced 

 into Szechuan and other parts of China from Turkestan or 

 Central Asia. Hence the term for sugar is made up of the 

 character for the name of the dynasty combined with the 

 "food" or "rice" radical. The method of manufacture as 

 first introduced into China is given in the Pentsao. The 

 character |,^ (T'ang) is also used, but it is probably a wrong 



