232 



NOTES ON CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



186062. 



Chinese 

 Fruits. 



Quisqualis 

 indica as an 

 anthelmintic. 



inner bark of the tree is used in Japan for the manufacture of 

 paper, as is fully described by Keempfer. 1 



13J ^} "X* She-keun-tsze ; Fruit of Quisqualis indica (L. 

 Comlretacece) ; Pun-tsaou, Fig. 385. 



These fruits (Fig. 3) are about an 

 inch in length, oval or oblong, pointed 

 at either extremity, and sharply pen- 

 tagonal. The woody pericarp is thin, 

 fragile, and of a deep mahogany 

 colour and incloses an oily seed. 

 Loureiro states that the seeds used 

 daily are recommended as an anthel- 

 mintic and in the rachitis of children. 2 

 Their anthelmintic properties, though 

 recorded by Rumphius and several subsequent writers besides 

 Loureiro, have not attracted much attention in Europe. Re- 

 cently, however, Dr. E. J. Waring, of Travancore, has pub- 

 lished a paper on some of the principal indigenous anthelmintics 

 of India, in which he has quoted some favourable reports of 

 the properties of the seeds in question. 3 From these it appears 

 that the seeds are chiefly used against lumbrici, especially when 

 occurring in children. They are sometimes given almost ad 

 libitum, but generally the dose of four or five good seeds is 

 found to be sufficient. 



Chebulic Mty j Ho-tsze 'rJ $/f 31? Ko-lih-le ; Fruits of Termin- 



Myrobalans. -^ ^ w ^ R ox b. (Comtoetacece) ; Chebulic Myrobalans. 



These fruits are well known in English commerce on account 

 of their astringent properties, which render them valuable in 

 various processes of dyeing. In medicine they have been 

 held in esteem for ages, not only on account of their astringency, 

 but also from their mildly purgative properties. Hill remarks 

 that when given in substance they do not exert their purgative 

 faculty at all, but are astringent only, whereas when admin- 



1 History of Japan (Scheuchzer's translation), Lond., 1727, Appendix, 

 p. 22. 



2 Flor. Cochinck., p. 337. 



3 Indian Annals of Medical Science, No. 12 (I860). 



Astringent 

 Purgative. 





