390 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



The sago, called \% |5|5 Pt (Kuang-lanor-mien), is considered to 

 be very nutritious and strengthening. The second above named 

 is an allied kind of palm found growing in Annam, and called 

 ^;g yfC (Hsiang-mu). The tree is somewhat taller than the other, 

 and grows on mountain ridges. It resembles the coir-palm, 

 but furnishes the fecula which yields sago. There is no appar- 

 ent difference in the product of this tree and that of the other. 



SAUSBURIA ADIANTIFOUA.— ^ ^ (Yin-hsing), 

 6 ^ (Pai-kuo), 952. This tree grows south of the Yangtse, 

 and is said to be found at its best in Hsiian-chens^-hsien in Nine- 

 kuofu, Anhui. It grows from twenty to thirty feet high, with 

 thin, vertical leaves resembling a duck's foot (triangular-fan- 

 shaped). In the second month the tree blooms with a greenish- 

 white bud, which opens in the night and quickly drops off, so 

 that men rarely see the flower on the tree. The fruits are 

 borne prolifically on the branches, and resemble lotus seeds. 

 They ripen after frost. The seeds are pointed at the extremi- 

 ties, and are marked by two or three longitudinal ridges. The 

 Chinese say that the three ridged seeds produce staminiferous 

 plants, and the two ridged pistiliferous ones. Care should be 

 taken to plant both kinds of seeds together. This tree is the 

 Ginko biloba, the generic term being derived from the Japanese 

 pronunciation of the two characters |^ ^ (Yin-kuo). It is a 

 tree of great beauty, and has been successfully transplanted to 

 Europe and America, growing quite well even in the north, 

 and the fruits ripening in the warmer latitudes of the south. 

 These are resinous, bitterish, and astringent. The Pai-kuo, 

 * 'white-fruits, " of the shops, consist of the nut-like seeds, 

 which are from three-quarters of an inch to one inch long, and 

 have a brownish-white, smooth, hard shell. The kernel 

 consists of two yellow, mealy cotyledons, covered with a beauti- 

 ful, thin, reddish membrane. The Chinese consume these 

 nuts at weddings, the sheil being dyed red. They are also 

 much used at feasts, and are a fair substitute for lotus seeds. 

 They have a somewhat fishy taste, and are supposed to benefit 

 asthma, coughs, irritability or the bladder, blenorrhoea, and 

 uterine fluxes. Eaten raw, they destroy -cancer and are 

 counter-vinous. Cooked, they are said to be peptic and 



