202 NOTES ON CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA. 



1860-62. plant; they are more or less ovate, shrunken, translucent, and 

 horny ; they vary in length from J an inch to 1 J inch. 



Kwang-koo. "*)t $$ Kwang-koo ; Small bulbs resembling those of a 

 tulip ; they are about -f$ of an inch long, smooth, and of a buff 

 colour. The thin enveloping outer membrane has been removed; 

 when cut, the external scale is seen to be very thick. 



Seaou-hwan- yj> J^g v^J( Seaou-Tiwau-chai ; Rhizome in size and form 

 resembling that of Triticum repens (Radix graminis), of a bright 

 yellow colour, tasteless, and inodorous. It is said to be derived 

 from an aquatic plant inhabiting Cochin-China. I have not 

 been able to identify the Chinese name, nor do I know the uses 

 of the drug. 



Sang-pwan- ^ ^p Jf, Sang-pwan-hea ; Tubers (tuber buds) from the 

 leaves of (?) Pinellia tulerifera, Tenore (Aroidece)-, Arisccma 

 ternatum, Schott, Meletemata Botanica, 1832. i., p. 17 ; Pun- 

 tsaou, Fig. 357 ? 



Under the name of Sang-pwan-hea, there occur in the Chinese 

 shops certain tubers (Fig. 16) having the aspect of little balls 



bout half an inch in dia- 

 meter, flattened on one side, 

 and in colour of a dirty 

 white. 1 More closely exa- 

 mined, we perceive on the 

 flattened side a depression 

 or sort of umbilicus, at- 

 tached to which the remains 



of an enveloping membrane may sometimes be found. Around 

 the depression, and extending over half the tuber, are a number 

 of little pits. The tubers are brittle, yet soft enough to be 

 easily cut with a knife. Their cut surface is perfectly white, 

 and shows no trace of concentric layers, or other structure 

 than a uniform mass of starchy, cellular tissue. 



Mr. H. G. Schott, of Vienna, an authority of the highest 

 eminence on Aroidece, has obligingly examined these tubers, 



1 Grows about Pekin. Hance, Linn. Journ., Bot. xiii. (1872), 88. 



