

HI>TOi:i< A I. NOTE. 11 



nt" ointment of lead on the tips of the Howers. It is as if they told me that the 

 spring is ndvancing, but the snow is not yet melted. I see a thousand Poppy heads 

 full of black s.-e.k. The east wind will l>lo\v .-nul they will he like millet of tin- 

 best -id ipiality.' 1 The comparison with MIOW indicates the colour of the 



Pop] 



YAM. Smii-YiNi: (tJS3tP, ' l native of Fuhkien when the Si'NU dynasty ' 



clyaei : 



3 in a medical work, while speaking of the use of the Poppy capsule 

 in medicine, in cases of dysentery, "This is thought little of by most, but when 

 d\^-nterv is of long continuance, without leatherings of matter locally and pain 

 resulting, and it is right to use astringents, if this remedy were not at hand how 

 could use be made of this mode of treatment? But there ought to be other drugs 

 accompanying it, to modify the effect." 



Another SUNG dynasty writer on medicine, named WANG CH'IU (j If), in 

 a work to wliich he gave the name Pai-i-hsiian-fang (H 3 #), writes that Poppy 

 seeds and capsules may with advantage be used together for both kinds of dysentery. 

 The seeds are prepared in a pan over the fire. The capsules are roasted on a gridiron. 

 being pulverised they are made up into pills, with honey, of the size ofmi-tung 

 seeds (Elcococca rernicosa). 30 pills are taken at a time, with rice gruel These 

 pills have l>een tried and found most efficient. 



Another Srxu dynasty author, WANG SHIH (HI), in his work I-chien-fang 

 (Ik tt #). says, " The effect of the Poppy capsule in curing dysentery is nothing less 

 than magical But in its nature it is extremely astringent, and easily causes vomiting 

 and difficulty in digesting food; consequently, patients are afraid of it and do not 

 venture to take it. Yet if it be prepared over the fire with a little vinegar, 

 and black plums be added on account of their acid qualities, its use will be found 



tory. 



" If the four drugs known as the four noble medicines, viz., tang-sJu'n (a 

 coarse ginseng grown in China), pai-shu (Atractylodes alba, a medicinal plant like 

 an artichoke), China-root, and liquorice, be mixed in due proportion and token 

 with it, there will be still less tendency to check digestion and, prevent the food 

 from proceeding on its way. The results will be most excellent." 



