432 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



THLASPI ARVENSE.— 7^ ^ (Hsi-raing). Another 

 name is ;;^ ^ (Ta-chi), "large shepherd' s-purse." It is akin 

 to Capsella biirsa-pastoris^ and is larger and more hirsute. It 

 is also likened to Sisymbrium. The shoots are said to har- 

 monize the internal organs and brighten the eyes. The seeds 

 are considered to be tonic and constructive, and are used in the 

 treatment of lumbago and eye diseases. 



THUJA {Biota) ORIENTALIS.— ^fi (Po). The Chinese 

 do not distinguish clearly between Thuja and Cupressus. In 

 fact, Abies and Jmiiperus are sometimes called by this same 

 generic name. The arbor vitse is ^ \^ (Pien-po). Other names 

 for Thuja are m \^ (Ai-po) and % ig (Ts'e-po) ; but this last 

 sometimes refers to Jiiniperus chinensis. All other trees face 

 east ; this alone faces west, and therefore it is an emblem of 

 chastity. These trees furnish the cypress-wood much used by 

 Chinese furniture makers, and Chinese and Japanese gardeners 

 delight to dwarf and train them into all sorts of shapes, of 

 animals, baskets, and the like. The leaves are used as decora- 

 tions and garnitures tor presents. The fruits, called f& ff (Po- 

 shih), and the kernels of the same, called t& •? t (Po-tzu-jen), 

 Q^o, 968, are used in medicine. The nuts are considered to 

 be very nutritious and fattening, and they are said to benefit 

 the respiratory organs and to check profuse perspiration. 

 They also act on the liver, and are prescribed in convulsive 

 disorders of children. The leaves, 1019, 1039, are used in 

 hemorrhages, and also in colds. A decoction of the joints of 

 the branches is used in colds, rheumatic difficulties, and locally 

 in parasitic skin difficulties. The resin is mixed with pine 

 resin and plastered on tumors as a resolvant. The white bark of 

 the root is powdered and called f 6 ^ # (Po-hsiang-sui), 1936, 

 and it is used in an ointment made with wax and lard to 

 cure burns and scalds and to make hair grow on the cicatrices. 



TILIA MIQUEUANA.— :^ ^ ;^ (P'u-ti-shu). This is 

 purely Japanese. In China the three characters refer to the 

 Ficus religiosa, the sacred Bo tree of Buddhism. This must 

 not be confounded with ^ |i •? (P'u-ti-tzu) which are the 

 fruits of Sapindus mukorossi. See Ficus religiosa and Sapin- 

 diis mukorossi. 



