462 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



z. 



ZANTHOXVLUM AILANTHOIDES.— :t ^ ^ (Slnh- 

 chu-yii). This is also called ^ 1^^ (Yiteh-chiao) and ^^ ^ 

 (La-tzii). A conimoii name by which it is described in tiie 

 Pentsao is \%. ^ (Tang-tzu). It is said to grow in Fnkieii 

 and is a lofty tree, resembling Ailanthus^ but is thorn\'. The 

 fruits are pungent and are eaten by the people as a substitute 

 for the ordinary red-pepper. The tree also grows in other 

 parts of China, has a mottled bark and yellow flowers. The 

 fruits are green in color, and are gathered by the people in the 

 eighth month, bruised together with lime and the juice 

 expressed, which is called ^ f^ (Ai-yu) or |^ ^ f[i[ (La-t'sai- 

 yu), and eaten as a condiment. Medicinally, the fruits are 

 considered to be slightly deleterious, but their virtues are 

 regarded as practically identical with those of Boymia rutce- 

 cnrpa^ with which this product is frequently confounded. 

 Carminative, tussic, stimulant, and counter-poisonous virtues 

 are ascribed, and the drug is prescribed in diarrhoeas, leucor- 

 rhcea, and chronic dysentery. 



ZANTHOXYLUAI BUNGEI.— ^ ||i (Ch'in-chiao) ; also 

 called ;/<; \\l (Ta-chiao) and ;^ \^ (Hua-chiao), 492. As in- 

 dicated by the first name, this originally came from Shensi, 

 and the drug consists of the small, red, tuberculated carpels, 

 called |,^ ^X (Chiao-hung), inclosing the black, round, shining 

 seed. By abortion, the carpels, normally four in number, are 

 reduced to two, and the slender pedicles attached to the carpels 

 are often found mixed with the dehisced carpels. The drug 

 has an aromatic odor, and a peculiar, pungent, and terebin- 

 thinate flavor, with a benumbing, acrid after-taste, faintly 

 resembling that of aconite. The properties which render it 

 condimental and medicinal are probably due to the oleo- 

 resin of the tubercles of the pericarp. The leaves are also 

 collected and used with the fruits as medicine. They are also 

 employed for feeding silk-worms. The resemblance of this fruit 

 to Zanthoxyliim piperitiun is noted, but the fruits are said to 

 be larger and the seeds smaller than in the latter. It occurs in 



