VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 417 



SPINACIA OLERACEA.— ^' ^ ^ (Po-leng-ts'ai), f^ ^ 

 (Po-ts'ai). The seed of this plant was brought from India by a 

 Buddhist priest in the Tang dynasty, and the herb is extensively 

 used b}' the bonzes as one of their ^ (Su), lentenfare. As the 

 Chinese have a tendency to attribute everything that conies 

 from the south-west to Persia, we are not surprised to find this 

 called -^ Sjf :^ (Po-ssQ-ts'ao), "Persian vegetable." Another 

 name is '^, i(j^ ^ (Ch'ih-ken-ts'ai), "red-root." The dioeceous 

 nature of the flowers in this genus is noted by the Chinese. 

 The herbage with the root is regarded as a cooling, carmina- 

 tive, antivinous, thirst-relieving vegetable. No special medici- 

 nal uses are noted. 



SPIRITS.— M (Chiu). The character is explained by M 

 (Chin), since the action of this drug deternnnes (j^) the good 

 or evil (^ ^) in the disposition of men, referring, it is sup- 

 posed, to the varying action of alcohol in producing different 

 types of intoxication. The clear spirit is called ^ (Niang, 

 which also means "to ferment") ; the turbid is called ^ (Ang); 

 the concentrated is called g| (Shun); the dilute is called @^ 

 (Li); the double fermented is called |"^ (Ch'ou); "one night 

 wine" is called ^ (Li) ; good wine is called gff (Hsii) ; the 

 unpressed is called @§ (P'ei); red wine is called |i; (T'i) ; the 

 green is called |f (Ju) ; and the white is called |1 (Ts'o). Spirit 

 is made from the various kinds of millet and of rice, from 

 honey and from grapes. In all except the honey and grapes, 

 yeast is used to produce fermentation. Glutinous rice is said to 

 make the best spirits, with panicled millet next, and spiked 

 millet poorest of all. The invention of spirits is ascribed to 

 ^ PC (I'ti), a daughter of one of the legendary emperors who 

 presented it to the Great Yii. The Shuo-wen says it was 

 invented by >j; ^ (Shao-k'ang), otherwise known as ;^ J^ (Tu- 

 k'ang). Others still put it as early as the reign of Huang-ti 

 (circa 2700 B.C.). The spirit derived from fermented grain 

 may have been the kind the use of which resulted in the curse 

 of Canaan and the incestuous origin of the two troublesome 

 tribes of Moab and Ammon. Originally, all forms of spirits 

 were made by the fermentation process, as distillation was not 

 known until the Mongol dynasty. The only methods of puri- 



