( *38 ) 
could poffible do it } the Figure of which I here fend you, 
and (hall give you the Explanation ot it at the end of 
this Letter. 
The mod eminent Phyficians in China have writ whole 
Volumes upon the Virtues and Qualities of this Plant } 
and make it an Ingredient in almod all Remedies which 
they give to their chief Nobility ; for it is of too high a 
Price for the common People. They affirm, that it is a 
SovereignRemedy for all WeaknefTes oCfcafion’d by excef- 
five Fatigues either of Body or Mind} that it diffolves 
Pituitous Humours } that it cures Weaknefs of the 
Lungs and the Pleurify ; that it flops Vom tings} that it 
ftrengthens the Stomach and helps the Appetite 5 that it 
difperfes Fumes or Vapours } that it fortifies the Bread, 
and is a Remedy for (hort and weak Breathing} that it 
ftrengthens the Vital Spirits, and increafes Lymph in the 
Blood 5 in (hort, that it is good againft Dizzinefs of the 
Head and Dimnefs of Sight, and that it prolongs Life 
^sn old Age. 
No Body can imagine that the Chinefe and Tartars 
would fet fo high a Value upon this Root, if it did not 
conftantly produce a good Effeft. Thofe that are in 
Health often make ufe of it to render therafelves more 
vigorous and ftrong : And I am perfwaded that it would 
prove an excellent Medicine in the Hands of any European 
who underftands Pharmacy, if he had but a fufficient 
quantity of it to make fuch Tryals as are neceflary, to 
examine the Nature of it Chymically, and to apply it in 
a proper quantity according to the Nature of the Dif- 
eafe for which it may be beneficial. 
It is certain that it fubtilizes, increafes the motion of, 
and warms the Blood 5 that it helps Digeftion, and in- 
vigorates in a very fenfible manner- After I had defigned 
the Root, which I Trial! hereafter defertbe, I obferved 
the date of my Pulfe, and then took half of the Root, 
raw as it was and unprepar’d : In an Hour after I 
found 
