VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 457 



VITEX TRIFOLIA.— ^ fi| (Man-ching), 819. This 

 is the same as F/'/^.r incisa. The description in the Pentsao 

 agrees fairly well with this identification. The branches are 

 slender and weak, somewhat resembling a vine ; hence the 

 Chinese name. It is found plentifully in north China. The 

 berries are the part used in medicine, and as they appear in 

 drug shops are globular, black, nucumentaceous, about two or 

 three lines in diameter, and usually covered with the remains 

 of the calyx, or mixed with the dried leaves of the plant. The 

 interior is white, ligneous, and made of four carpels in a state 

 of adhesion. They have little taste or smell, and must be 

 nearly inert. They are prescribed in headache, catarrh, and 

 watery eyes, and are said to promote the growth of the beard, 

 that great desideratum of the middle life of every Chinese man. 

 Cancer of breast is also treated with it. 



VITIS BRYONI^FOLIA.— ^ % (Ying-yii). This is 

 also called ll| ^ ^ (Shan-p'u-t'ao) and if ^ ^ (Yeh-p'u- 

 t'ao). It is the wild grape, which is found growing in the 

 Peking mountains, bearing small, edible, black fruits. Vitis 

 labrusca is also represented by this title. The fruits are con- 

 sidered cooling and beneficial to the complexion and breath. 

 The vine is thought to be diuretic, and is used in typhoid with 

 a view to checking nausea. The root is recommended in 

 gravel and pain in the lower abdomen, especially in women. 



VITIS CORNICULATA.— ^ -% (Tzu-ko). This grows 

 in mountain valleys, the vine being more than ten feet long, 

 the root purple in color and two or three inches in diameter. 

 The bark of the root, which is the part used in medicine, is 

 employed in an acetous decoction in cancerous and other swell- 

 ings, and is considered eliminant. It is also used after labor for 

 relieving thirst, and as an application in all sorts of wounds. 



VITIS FLEXUOSA.— ^ ^ ^ (Ch'ien-sui-lei). This 

 is also called ^ ^ Bl (Ch'ang-ch'un-t'eng), and has a vine 

 resembling the grape-vine, yielding in the fourth month a 

 white sap, sweet in taste, and in the eighth month bearing 

 Iruits which are greenish-black with a tinge of red. These 

 fruits are used medicinally, and are supposed to be strengthen- 



