4l6 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



their action, and have been used in India as a purgative. In 

 China they are used in convulsions and epilepsy in children, 

 post-partum difficulties, and as a wash in scabious skin affec- 

 tions, tor which last the stalk and bark are also used. The 

 twigs, 505, are decocted for the treatment, as a wash, of all sorts 

 of skin difficulties, piles, sore eyes, and discharging surfaces. 

 The bark of the tree and of the root is used for similar purposes 

 and is specially recommended in orchitis, gonorrhoeal dis- 

 charges in women, and in the bath to improve the skin. The 

 eum which exudes from the tree is given several fanciful 

 virtues, the principal use being that of an application in skin 

 affections. An extract made from the leaves and the fruit of 

 this tree is used to adulterate prepared opium. The wood was 

 formerly employed in making primitive fire drills, and was 

 also used as a cautery or form of the moxa. 



SORGHUM SACCHARATUM.— fj^ M (Ti-che). This 

 is included under the article on Sacchariim saccharatum (which 

 see). In Japan -^ ^ (Shu-shu) is used for this, but in China 

 this term refers Lo Sorghum vulgare. 



SORGHUM VULGARE.— g ^ (Shu-shu). The com- 

 mon name is ^ ^ (Kao-liang), or "high-millet." Other 

 names are ^ J| (Lu-su) and % %_ (Ti-liang). This is one of 

 the three "millets" so extensively grown in northern China 

 as food for man, provender for beasts, and for distilling spirits, 

 the others being Panicum uiiliaceiivi and Setaria italica. The 

 seed of this plant was brought from Szechuan, but whether 

 indigenous there or originally coming from further west is not 

 now known. There are glutinous and non-glutinous kinds, the 

 former being used for distilling spirits, and the latter as food 

 and provender. The stalks are used as reeds in the construction 

 of fences, wattle houses, mats, and the like, replacing the 

 PJiragniitcs reeds of the Yangtse valley. The grain is regarded 

 as warming, nutritious, and beneficial in fluxes. The glutinous 

 kind can be used as a substitute for the glutinous panicled 

 millet. The second and third names at the beginning of this 

 article distinguish between the yellow and black varieties 

 respectively. 



