I 



VEGETABLE KINGDOM. ' 459 



from western Asia about B.C. 120-125. Li Sliih-cheti notes 

 that the grape was known in China from very early times, but 

 he probably confounds other species of Vitis with the domestic 

 grape. It is certain that this vine has not been cultivated very 

 extensively in China to the present time. No improvement in 

 the original species has taken place under Chinese cultivation, 

 and good western varieties have only been introduced within 

 recent times by missionaries. The description in the Pentsao 

 is fairly good, and the appreciation of the virtues of this fruit 

 is fully shown in its medicinal applications. The fruit is con- 

 sidered strengthening, cooling, constructive, diuretic, and 

 anthilithic. It is recommended to bring out the eruption in 

 small-pox. A decoction of the root, vine, or leaves is recom- 

 mended in the vomiting of cholera, vomiting of pregnancy, and 

 threatened abortion. It is also diuretic and useful in dropsy. 



Wine.— ^ ^ M (P'u-t'ao-chiu). With the Chinese there 

 are two kinds of grape wine ; the fermented and the distilled. 

 The former is called ll ^ ^ ill (Niang-p'u-t'ao-chiu) and the 

 latter j^ ^ ^ M (Shao-p'u-t'ao-chiu). The fermented is pro- 

 duced by mixing the expressed juice with leaven in the usual 

 manner which the Chinese use, or the dried grapes may be 

 used. The distilled is fermented in the same manner, but is 

 afterwards distilled bv the usual method employed by the 

 Chinese, resulting in a form of weak brandy. However, it is 

 strong enough to be considered very poisonous, producing 

 inebriation much more quickly than the ordinary Chinese is 

 accustomed to. Foreign brandies are also mentioned, some of 

 them being considered stronger and some weaker than the 

 native product. One of these is called P^ "^ i)^ (Ha-la-huo), 

 which may be a transliteration of "hollands," or maybe of 

 "alcohol." The fermented wine is considered warming, and 

 is recommended in kidney affections and for improving the 

 color. The stimulating properties of the distilled wine are 

 fully recognized, and it is used to prevent hunger, stimulate the 

 intellect, and quiet the centers, which all know it seems to do. 

 But the Chinese have a certain amount of prejudice against 

 grape-wine on account of its heating properties, which are 

 supposed to be given to it by the reputed origin of the grape 

 from the volcanic districts of Turfan. 



