VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 389 



antidote to varnish poisoning. The juice of the plant is nsed 

 in fevers, foul sores, and all sorts of parasitic skin diseases, 

 decayed teeth, vaginal injuries, nervous difificulties of children, 

 to promote the growth of hair, in varnish poisoning, and inter- 

 nally in jaundice. Just which of these virtues is ascribed to 

 which plant is not made clear. 



SAGITTARIA SAGITTIFOLIA.— ^ ^ (T'zu-ku), 

 1426 ; also written ^ ^ (Tzii-ku) and ^i M (T'zil-ku). Other 

 names are H ^ (Chieh-ku), 1% ]^^ H (Pai-ti-li), and 7JC {^i 

 (Shui-p'ing), for the bulb, while the stalk is called M* JJ ^ 

 (Chien-tao-ts'ao), and 3pt j^ [^ (Yen-wei-ts'ao), referring to the 

 shape of the leaves. This is confounded with Monochoria 

 hastata^ and indeed this latter is called by these names in the 

 south. As one of the Chinese names indicates, it is also 

 confounded with Lemna. It is also said to resemble Alisma 

 plantago. It grows in shallow water, and is also cultivated in 

 ponds and irrigated fields. The arrow-shaped leaf is well 

 described in the Pentsao. In the fall and early spring the 

 tubers are dug up and steamed for food. The tender stalk is 

 similarly used, and a sort of arrowroot is made of these products. 

 The herbage is somewhat acrid. The ingestion of the tubers 

 in the raw (cold) state is considered to be deleterious, producing 

 fluxes, weakness, and hemorrhoids. Pregnant women should not 

 eat of them. They are recommended in deficient lochia, and 

 in retention of the placenta, as well as in gravel. The bruised 

 leaves are applied in foul sores, snake and insect bites, and as 

 a powder to itching diseases. 



SAGUS RUMPHIL— jif U (Kuang-lang); 6"^:^^?^^;'?^^ rum- 

 phii, jp Tjc (So-mu). The first character of the latter name 

 is properly written ^^ (So). The former is also called |i§ -^ 

 (Mien-mu), referring to its starch, and ^ i^ (Tieh-mu), refer- 

 ing to the hardness of its wood. The tree grows in Lingnan, 

 and it is cultivated. The description of the fecula and the 

 mode of obtaining it is given in the Pentsao. The bark is used 

 for making ropes, and the fiber for making a coarse cloth or 

 matting. The fruits resemble those of Areca catccJm^ and are 

 supposed to render fluid the blood and disperse ecchymoses. 



