424 CHINHSK MATERIA MEDICA. 



the tree is used for making mortars. Ttie tree is quite com- 

 mon throughout central China and somewhat resembles the 

 Azedarach, or Pride of India. It varies a good deal in size in 

 different provinces, and is readily known by its aspen foliage, 

 which is permanent, but becomes a brilliant red color in autumn 

 and winter. The leaves yield a black dye with sulphate of 

 iron, thus demonstrating the large amount of tannin contained 

 in them. The berries are three-seeded, and dehisce when ripe, 

 disclosing the kernels enveloped with a coat of the vegetable 

 fat which renders the tree so valuable. Dr. Williams says that 

 the tree is called fip ^ (Ch'iung-shu) in the neighborhood of 

 ISIacao. The white bark of the root is bitter and considered to 

 be .slightly deleterious. It is diuretic and derivative in its 

 action and is also used in the treatment of snakebite and skin 

 ulcers. The leaves are used for a similar purpose and are con- 

 sidered specially useful in the treatment of boils. 



Vegetable Tallow. — |g ffy (Chiu-yu). The tallow 

 yielded by tallow berries is made by the following process. 

 The ripe nuts are bruised and the pericarp separated by sifting. 

 They are then steamed in wooden cylinders with numerous 

 holes in the bottom, which fit upon kettles or boilers. The 

 tallow is softened by this process, and is separated from the 

 albumen of the seeds b\' gently beating them with stone mallets, 

 when the tallow is effectually removed by sifting the mass 

 through hot sieves. The tallow still contains the brown testa 

 of the seeds, which is separated by pouring it into a cylinder 

 made up of straw rings, laid one on top of the other, in which 

 it is put into a rude press and the tallow is squeezed through in 

 a pure state. A picul of seeds yields from twenty to thirty 

 catties of tallow, besides the oil ^ ^ (Ch'ing-yu), which is 

 obtained from the albumen by grinding, steaming, and pressing 

 it a second time. The tallow is of a whitish color, hard and 

 tasteless. It melts, according to Dr. Macgowan, at 104°, and is 

 composed mainly of tripalmatine, a substance which, saponified 

 by alcoholic potash, produces palmitic acid. It is largely used 

 in candle making, being mixed with white insect wax, in the 

 proportion of three ounces of wax to ten catties of tallow. 

 These candles as especially used by the Buddhists. The tallow 

 has been exported to Europe and would doubtless make a good 



