396 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



It has bell-shaped flowers, with an inflated calyx enclosing the 

 seed capsule. At Peking, Silenc aprica is called by this name. 

 The plant is slipper}^ and unctuous, and when trod upon is apt 

 to cause a fall. Hence, one of the princes forbade its being 

 allowed to grow in the palace grounds. From this arose tiie 

 two principal names. The seeds are dark red and round, 

 resembling turnip seeds. The root, shoot, flowers, and leaves 

 are all used in medicine and are said to be vulnerary, styptic, 

 diuretic, galactagogue, discutient, and solvent. They are a 

 soldier's remedy after receiving wounds. 



SARACA INDICA.— M -^ -^ (Wu-yu-hua). The 

 flowers of this " sorrowless " tree upon which the mother of 

 Sakyamuni Buddha is said to have laid hold in the pangs of 

 the birth of her son, are barely mentioned in the Kuang-cJii'tn- 

 faug-pji. It is a leguminous tree, and the legend is that it 

 always bursts into flower when touched by a woman. It is 

 therefore a woman's remedy. 



SARGASSUM SIUQUASTRUM.— f^ -^ (Hai-tsao). 

 See Algcs. 



SAURURUS LOUREIRL— H j^ If (San-pai-ts'ao). The 

 Customs lists give H T J5u (San-ya-hu) H T ^ (vSan-ya-ts'ao), 

 1064, but from what source these are derived has not been 

 found. The plant grows in marshy ground, has a stalk that 

 resembles Folygonimt^ leaves that resemble those of Celosia 

 argcntea^ and in the fourth month the three terminal leaves 

 of the plant successively begin to turn white. There is a 

 common saying, "one leaf white, eat wheat; two leaves 

 white, eat plums and apricots ; three leaves white, eat 

 millet." In the fifth month it bears a spike of small, white, 

 slightly fragrant flowers, followed by small, one-seeded berries. 

 The root is white, elastic, jointed, and covered with bristly 

 rootlets. The plant is to be distinguished from Polygonuin 

 persicaria^ which has black spots on the leaves. The flowers 

 and root are used in medicine, and are considered to be slightly 

 deleterious. Eliminative, antimalarial and parasiticide prop- 

 erties are attributed to it. 



