476 CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



has a red heart. When young, it is used as food. When old, 

 the stalk can be used as a staff. It is also called ^ ^ (Li- 

 huo), and a remark made by Li Shih-chen suggests that this 

 name was also applied to Sorghum viilgare (]^ ^, Kao-Hang), 

 and it may have been this which Fa Hsien saw, and by it 

 recognised that he had once more reached the shores of China. 

 The leaves and the stalk of the species under consideration are 

 used in medicine ; the former as an anthelmintic and insecti- 

 cide, and the ashes of the latter as an escharotic in unhealthy 

 granulations and to remove warts. 



CONGEE.— 51? (Chou), J^ (Mi). When this gruel has 

 been boiled thick it is called |f (Chan), and when thin the 

 name is |i^ (I). The number of these gruels is very large, and 

 they are made from any of the cereal grains and other sub- 

 stances, sometimes used alone and sometimes with an admix- 

 ture of other drugs. The common congee is made of rice or 

 millet, that made of the former being also known as f^ |J^ 

 (Hsi-fan). This is almost the universal staple of the Chinese 

 breakfast, being eaten with a relish of salted vegetables or bean 

 curd. It is easily digested and fattening, and as a diet for the 

 sick it is most excellent, being demulcent, cooling, easily 

 digestible, and nourishing. When a demulcent is needed, as in 

 bowel or bladder difficulties, there is nothing better, as it can 

 easily be diluted by adding boiling water, it can be strained, 

 or meat broth, wine, or other substances can be added to it. 

 It readily takes the place of, and excels, barley broth or 

 barley water. To prepare it, a relatively small quantity of 

 rice should be put to boil in a sufficiently large quantity of 

 water, so that no water need be added to make the gruel of the 

 right consistency. For this reason, it is better to use too 

 much water rather than too little, as it rather improves the 

 congee to boil it a long time until the water has sufficiently 

 evaporated. The gruel used for breakfast is usually much 

 thicker than that given to the sick. Two places where this 

 gruel finds very practical use is in the case of nursing mothers, 

 to increase the supply of milk, and in the case of hand-fed 

 infants, as a useful addition to and diluent of cow's milk. It 

 should always be freshly made for this latter purpose. 



