20 OPIUM : 



there was the water duty, the land duty, and the supplementary duty. The water 

 duty was tonnage, and was levied on the representative of the ship. The land duty 

 was duty on goods, fixed ad valorem, and levied, according to the quantity of goods, 

 on the merchant doing business on shore. In respect to this, from fear of smuggling, 

 it was the rule that the supercargo (ch'uan-shang) should not deliver goods until the 

 presentation of a memorandum addressed to the merchant on shore who was the 

 buyer of goods, stating the amount of duty for the goods mentioned, and directing 

 him to go to the vessel and pay the duties there ; after this the goods might be 

 removed. As to the supplementary duties, they were levied in case of an error in 

 the declared measurement of the vessel in feet, to be added to (or subtracted from) 

 the tonnage." 



Tariff of A.D. 1589. Further, in the year 1589 a tariff was issued, stating the duties to be levied 



on each kind of goods and approved by the military commandant. In this tariff 

 myrrh, gum olibanum, and asafoetida, with other articles, are entered at a fixed rate 

 of 3j, mace per cwt. for myrrh, and 2 mace per cwt. for the other two. Opium is 



Tariffof A.D.i6is. rated at 2 mace of silver for 10 catties, or 2 ounces per cwt. In the year 1G15 a new 

 tariff was issued, in which Opium appears rated at I T \J mace for each 10 catties. 



16. 



LI smu-cHKNV Li SHIH-CHEN, author of the Pen-ts'ao-kang-mu, finished that work A.D. 1578. 



Ifatena Medico. 



After saying that the Poppy is called yu-mi ($P %) because it is a grain (mi) 

 which can be used in making presents, and hsiang-hi, (^ M) because it resembles 

 millet (tat), he adds that it is sown in autumn, and in winter is above ground in 

 the form of tender stalks which may be used as food and constitute an excellent 

 vegetable, the leaves being like lettuce. In the 3rd or 4th month the flowering 

 part of the plant is well advanced and protected by bracts, which fall off when the 

 flower opens. There are four petals, which, taken together, are as large as a saucer. 

 The capsule is in the centre of the flower, folded in stamens. The flower falls on the 

 third day after opening, leaving the capsule at the top of the stem. It is 1 or 2 

 inches in length, and in size like the ma-tou-lmg (a drug, capsule of the bladder 

 tree). It has a lid and a short stalk. In shape it is much like a wine jar. In 



