NOTES ON CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



239 





W ^ Tsing-pe; Immature Fruits of Citrus - ? (Auran- 

 tiacece) ; Cin-pi, Tatarinov, Catal. Med. Sinens., p. 12. 



In Tatarinov s Catalogue, these fruits are referred to Citrus 

 microcarpa, Bge., a plant which Professor Bunge describes as 

 "frutex in caldariis Pekinensibus frequens, fructu maturo mense 

 Januario et Februario onustus"* I do not know what further 

 range this plant may have, but if it is only cultivated on a 

 small scale with artificial heat, it can hardly be the source of 

 a common drug like that under notice : I think it best there- 

 fore to leave the species of Citrus undefined. 



The fruite called Tsing-pe are from f- to f of an inch 

 in diameter, and resemble the Baccce Aurantii of European 

 pharmacy, except that the latter have a somewhat less rough 

 exterior. 



'^1 sL jfl Ma-tow-ling ; Fruits of Aristolochia Kcempferi, 

 Willd., Sp. Plant. VI, pars i., p. 152 (Aristolochiece) ; Hoffmann 

 et Schultes, Journ. Asiatique, Oct., Nov., 1852, p, 275 ; Kcempf. 

 Icones, tab. 49 ; Pun-tsaou } Fig. 388. 



Oval fruits of 1 to If inch in length, formed of six thin 

 and papery valves, inclosing large, flat, obtusely -triangular, 

 winged seeds. Each fruit is supported on a pedicel at least as 

 long as itself. 



In Tatarinov's Catalogue the name Ma-tow-ling is referred to 

 A. contorta, Bunge, an identification I have not been able to 

 confirm, though I have had the kind assistance of Professor 



1 T. T. Cooper observed immense quantities of orange peel being dried at 

 Main-yang, a town about 50 miles west of Hankow. Travels of a Pioneer of 

 Commerce, 1871, p. 38. 



2 Memoires presentes a I' Academic Imptriale des Sciences de St. Peters- 

 bourg, tome 2 (1835), p. 84. 



Chinese 

 Fruits. 



Loureiro states that Citrus fusca is widely diffused in Cochin 1860-62. 

 China, but less common in China. He adds that the entire 

 peel of the fruit is considered attenuant, deobstruent, and 

 mildly cathartic. 



The zest of a thick-skinned orange or citron dried in very 

 thin slices, is found in the Chinese drug shops under the name 



of 



Tsing-pe. 



