NOTES ON CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 243 



it dissolves readily in water or alcohol, its solution possessing 186O-62. 

 the colour ^of chromic acid. Salts of lead give orange-red pre- 

 cipitates with a solution of crocine ; if a concentrated aqueous Crocine and 

 solution be treated with sulphuric acid, the mixture assumes Crocetine - 

 an indigo-blue colour, which changes to violet. By the decom- 

 position of crocine, a body called crocetine is obtained. The 

 composition of crocine is, (2 C 58 H 42 30 ) -f- HO; that of 

 crocetine C 42 H 23 O n . 



Hi Kan-Ian ; Fruits of two or more species of Canarium 

 (JBurseracece) Pun-tsaou, Fig. 668; Chinese Olive. Chinese Olive. 



Most persons who have lived in China are acquainted with a 

 small edible fruit, which from its oblong shape and being 

 generally sold preserved with salt, has acquired the name of 

 Chinese Olive. The stones of this fruit are also well known from 

 being frequently carved into beads and other ornaments. The 

 Chinese olive, I need hardly observe, has not the least affinity 

 with the true olive (Oka Europwa, L), but belongs to the natural 

 order Burseracece and genus Canarinm. The precise species, 

 for there are probably two or three, are not well made out. 

 Loureiro describes in his genus Pimela, now referred to Cana- 

 rium, two plants yielding edible fruits, namely, P. nigra 

 (Canarium Pimela, Konig and Sims, Annals of Botany, vol. i., 

 1805, p. 361, tab. 7, Fig. 1) and P. alia (Canarium album, 

 Eaeuschel, Nomendator Botanicus, ed. 3, 1797, p. 287). 1 



Dried specimens of the fruits of these plants were presented 

 to me by the late Mr. Eeeves. That of Pimela nigra is an oval pimda nigra, 

 drupe \\ inch long, covered with a smooth black skin. The et P ' alba " 

 pulp, which is rather firm, surrounds a large, obscurely triangular 

 pointed stone. The fruit of Pimela alba resembles that of 

 jP. nigra, except that it is of a pale brown and has its outer 

 skin much corrugated by drying. 



Besides these, and probably distinct from them, there are, 

 according to my friend Mr. Lockhart, two other fruits used by 

 the Chinese and commonly sold at certain seasons, the one at 



1 Information on this subject is given in a paper by Hance, on the so- 

 called Olives of Southern China, Pharm. Journ., Feb. 25, 1871, p. 684. 



R 2 



