102 
ON THE SOURCE OF THE CHINA ROOT OF COMMERC 
By Henry F. Hance, Pu.D., ere. 
Wallich under the name of S. eror, which occurs throughout the whole i 
of the mountainous districts of India and China, and, though absent from ; 
the Manchurian flora, where it i by S. excelsa, L., extends into — 
Japan. Mr. Porter Smith, on the other hand, has recently stated} that - 
red a matter rather of conjecture than of established fact. So u ; 
as regards the Canton drug, it was at least certain that it is the product ^ 
Hongkongensis, because none other occur within the district ; and, 
o * * . . $ 
yielding the drug, I was obliged to content myself with this half-negative 1 
informatio ko INE. through the kindness of Mr. E. C. Bowra,. Deputy 
Commissi Mariti iti 
the stem attached: to- the stout fibrous roots, ; 
: bers, the. latter evidently identical with the China - 
root sold in the shops, Although this specimen was not in flower, a Vei. : 
i t species in my herbarium leaves no doubt that u 
is referable to S. glabra, Roxb.| It is interesting to note that the aceus — 
* The total export during the last ei i llows :— 
3 ghteen months is as follows: 
Half-year ending une, 1870 . . 43,402]1b. 
” » 91st December, 1870 . 21,320 ,, 
» » 30th June, 1871 . " 5, 36 
Bu — ..* 999, pm 
T Pereira, Elem. Mat. Må 672: Qn 58; Lindley, Med. 
Been Bot „E èd. 672; Griffith, Med. Bot. 658; Lindley EE 
$ Contrib. to Mat, Med., etc., of Chi 198. Dr. Wells Williams 
Com. Guide, ed. 5, 115) erron usly beliewée China root to be in no case the wes 
duct of a Smilaz, to be merely the Pachyma cocos, Fries, which is not a Wy 
Te pu POT even.th id mycelium of one, as still maintained by id of 
fle o us Traité Gén. de Bot. 707), but a peculiar degenen ime | 
Cf. Ber! ledonous trees, in which the tissues are all transform: 
PR CT. ' in Journ. Li . üi. 102.) 
$ Illustr. Himal. Bot. 383. Mes 
“fal and accurate representation of this plant will be rhib: 
Wah Ming srinsermann’s “Botany of tho Voyage of the Bomid” Tho" as 
toca ing Shih T'u K'ao, or + Ni : and Description of Plants, to 
with Plates, " in 1841 i i E 
root and st ch bere T » contains a very good outline figure : 
