xliv 



INTRODUCTION. 



quest of the root^ and to bring as much as they 

 could find : every one was to give two pounds 

 of the best to the Emperor, and to sell the rest 

 for the same weight of fine silver. The roots, 

 which are said to bear some resemblance to the 

 human form, are gathered and dried, and enter 

 into almost every medicine used by the Chinese 

 and Tartars. Osbeck says that he never looked 

 into the apothecaries' shops, but they were al- 

 ways selling ginseng ; that both poor people 

 and those of the highest rank made use of it, 

 and that they boil half an ounce in their tea or 

 soup every morning as a remedy for consump- 

 tion and other diseases. Jartoux relates that 

 the most eminent physicians of China have 

 written volumes on the medicinal powers of 

 this plant, asserting that it gives immediate re- 

 lief in almost every kind of disorder. European 

 physicians, however, seem to doubt its efficacy, 

 at least in this climate. A remarkable plant 

 belonging to this order is Gunnera scahra, found 

 by Darwin, growing on the sand-stone clifi' of 

 Chiloe. He describes it as somewhat resembling 

 rhubarb on a gigantic scale, each plant pro- 

 ducing four or five leaves nearly eight feet in 

 diameter. Of the genus Hedera (Ivy), fifty- 

 two species are eniunerated by Don, but many 

 of these are referred by other authors to Aralia, 

 &c. The Ivies are either climbing shrubs, like 

 our own familiar plant, or grow to the height 

 of fifty feet vithout support. The only British 

 plant besides Ivy belonging to this order is the 

 Moschatell {Adoxa MoschatcUina), a humble 

 plant which appears early in spring, on shady 

 moist banks, and may be distmguished by its 



