VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 45I 



its appearance in commerce is here given. Dr. Williams says 

 that is made "by boiling the leaves for five or six hours, until 

 a strong decoction is formed. They are then taken out and 

 strained above the caldron. The decoction is evaporated almost 

 to dryness, when it is cooled and the water drawn off. A 

 soapy substance remains which is dried and cut up." It 

 occurs in cubes, or cakes formed by the coherence of these 

 cubes. They are about an inch square, porous, externally of a 

 brown color, and internally of a brick-red or ocherous color. 

 The pieces become much darker with age. Gambir is seven 

 or eight times richer in tannin than oak bark, and is perfectly 

 soluble in boiling water. The solution is bitter, astringent, 

 and its after-taste is slightly sweet. The decoction should not 

 be very smooth to the taste, nor should it give a blue color 

 with iodine. The drug is imported into China from Singapore, 

 principally for dyeing purposes. It is probable that this drug 

 is often found mixed with that derived from Acacia catechu, 

 Areca cateclm^ and other substances. 



URTICA SCORPIONIDES. %^% (Hsieh-tzu-ts'ao). 

 This is a name given by Porter Smith to a Chinese nettle 

 described in the Kuang-chiui-fang-pii as being formidable to 

 all animals, except the camel, on account of its stings. In 

 man the sting swells and turns red, resembling the bite of a 

 scorpion. It is not used in medicine. 



URTICA THUNBERGIANA. % % (T'an-ma) ; also 

 called ^ 1^ (Mao-hsien). This is said to have originally come 

 from the mountain valleys of Kiangningfu (Nanking). It has 

 a prickly stalk two or three feet high, and the leaves are 

 green, or purplish, and hirsute, and the prickles on the leaves 

 produce a sting whenever touched with the bare hand. It is 

 said that if these leaves are thrown into water, they will poison 

 fish. The taste is bitter and cooling, and the action of the 

 plant is emetic. It is used only externally, bruised, in snake 

 bite, and applied to pemphigus-like skin difficulties, which it 

 is said to cure in one night. 



UVULARIA GRANDIFLORA. ^ # (Pei-mu). See 

 Fritillaria thunbergii. 



