VEGETABI,E KINGDOM. 425 



lubricant for railway axles, for which purpose it has been used 

 in India. The tallow tree is not the only one producing a vege- 

 table tallow ; other kinds coming from Singapore and other 

 places in the Far East. But strange to say, according to Mr. 

 Sampson, this tree yields no tallow in Kuangtung province, 

 where it grows so generally. Large quantities of vegetable 

 tallow are exported from some of the Yangtse ports. It is 

 sometimes used as an ingredient in ointments, and the yellow- 

 ish mixture procurable from the candle-makers is useful in 

 making up suppositories. Medicinally is is used as a pomade 

 for the hair, being said to change gray hair to black. It is 

 also applied to all sorts of sores and skin eruptions. Taken 

 internally, it is believed to be emetic, purgative, hydragogue, 

 and antidotal. Cases of poisoning, in China, are generally 

 treated with a dose of the tallow, or the oil of the albumen, 

 and it is generally useful for this purpose on account of its oily 

 nature and its not violently emetic properties. 



STRYCHNOS IGNATIA.— g ^ ^ (Lii-sung-kuo). 

 This is mentioned in the Appendix to the Pentsao, There is 

 not much description of the plant, but what there is is suffi- 

 cient to identify this Strychnos philippmensis of Blanco. JJu ^ 

 ^ (Chia-wa-lung) is given as the Bisayan name of the fruit. 

 The bitter and poisonous properties of the fruit and seed are 

 pointed out. The drug is highly valued medicinally, and the 

 seeds are called ^ j[ (Pao-tou), "precious beans," either on 

 account of this estimate or on account of their cost. They are 

 used as a counterpoison in ague, intestinal worms, in post- 

 partum difficulties, and epidemics. 



STRYCHNOS NUX-VOMICA.— # -^ || (Fan-rau- 

 pieh), J^ % (Ma-ch'ien), 798. The second character of the 

 second name is properly written |^, as referring to the "cash" 

 on a horse's bridle ; but it is commonly written as above. 

 Other names are ^ jj ^ S (K'u-shih-pa-tou), "bitter-seeded- 

 Persian-bean," and "K^M^t^ (Huo-shih-k'o-pa-tu), which 

 seems to be a transliteration of a foreign term. This drug is 

 now found in Szechuan, but it originally came from some 

 Mohammedan country. As the bright red fruit oi the plant 



