414 chinesp: materia mkdica. 



ese, confirined by Faber. Tatarinov calls it Siphonostegia 

 chincnsis^ but the description in the Pciitsao indicates a 

 composite, not a scrophulariaceous, plant. The Chinese name 

 is probably derived from the name of a person. There is a 

 legend to the effect that in the reign of one of the Emperors of 

 the Sung dynasty a man whose surname was Liu Yli, and 

 whose "small name," was Chi-nu, while cutting down a f^ 

 (Ti) plant, saw a large snake and killed it with an arrow. On 

 the next day he went there and heard the sound of mortar and 

 pestle. When he searched for the source of this sound, he 

 saw several youths dressed in green robes in the hazel thicket 

 bruising this plant for medicine. When he asked why they 

 did this, they replied that their master was shot with an 

 arrow by Liu Chi-nu, and that they were now preparing 

 medicine to cure the wound. So the. Chinese have ideas in 

 regard to the healing properties of this plant similar to those 

 which gave the botanical name to this genus. The seeds are 

 officinal, and are said to dissolve the blood and expel flatus. 

 If taken too long, they produce hemorrhage of the bowels. 

 They are used in hemorrhages, wounds, menstrual disorders, 

 cholera, diarrhoea, and hemorrhage from the bladder in chil- 

 dren. 



SONCHUS OLERACEUS.— ^ (T'u), § ||(K'u-ts'ai). 

 See Lactiica. The first character, which originally was the 

 name for tea, is now generally referred to this genus. The 

 second name is also used for various species of Lactuca^ as 

 well as other plants used as pot-herbs, such as some of the 

 Solanacese. 



SOPHORA ANGUSTIFOLIA.— ^ ^ (K'u-shen), 635. 

 This is the same as SopJiora flavescens and SopJiora kronci. 

 Other Chinese names are ^ ^ (Yeh-huai), fY. ^ (Shui-huai), 

 and \^ j^ (Ti-huai). Other names are given, referring to its 

 dwarf and herbaceous character as compared to the Sophora 

 japonica. Tatarinov, following Loureiro, called it Robinia 

 amara. It is a very common plant in mid-China, bears 

 yellowish-white flowers, a siliquaceous pod, and a long, 

 yellowish, exceedingly bitter root, which last is the part used 



