( 42 ) 
3. -pjv |||| ^fj ^ Pu-p l o-li-ch l a. 
The leaves of the two first, and the bark 
of the last named, are used for writing on. 
Pei-to is a Sanscrit ( ) word ( patra ), 
which translated into Chinese signifies “leaf 
Pei-to-p l o-li-ch l a ( patra vrikcha ) being 
translated means “leaf tree.” The classics 
of the Western regions are written on the 
leaves and the bark of these three kinds of 
tree, and they may be preserved for five or 
six hundred years without injury. From 
Kiao-chi ( Cochin China, v. s. ) the wood of 
this tree has lately been exported as material 
for the manufacture of bows; for this pur- 
pose it answers well. 
The Pen-ts‘ao describes the same Palm 
(XXXI p. 21), but quotes only the follow- 
ing statement from the Huan-yu-chi (close 
of the 10th century). 
$j|j 'fsjj Mien-tien ( Burmah ) is situated 
to the South of vj|f Tien ( Yiin-nan ); it 
possesses the Shu-t l ou-tsung 
(tree head Palm), which is five or six feet 
in height and bears a fruit like a Cocoanut ; 
the natives put some leaven ( p'^j ) in a jar, 
which they suspend beneath the fruit, cut- 
ting open the fruit so that the liquid runs 
into the jar; this makes wine which is called 
“ tree head wine:” if leaven be not used they 
boil the liquid down into sugar. This is the 
Pei tree. The Burmese use the leaves 
to write upon. 
Finally the History of the Liang dynasty 
(502-557), Chap. 54, mentions a wine tree, 
Vpl $§11 Tsiu-shu. From the juice of its 
flowers wine can be made. This tree grows in 
jj|p} Tun-sun, a country lying 3000 li 
to the South of Fu-nan (v. s.) The Hai- 
kuo-tu-chi states, that Tun-sun was in the 
peninsula of Malacca. 
All the above descriptions of Chinese 
authors point to Palms, the leaves of which 
are used to write upon and which yield 
palm wine, and especially to the Palmyra 
palm , Borassus flabelliformis. The Palmyra 
palm is found throughout India, especially 
in the dry and hot regions. The limit of 
its geographical distribution reaches to the 
North as far as the 25°. It grows in Burmah 
and may occur also in Yunnan. G rosier 
(la Chine II. p. 534,) speaks of Borassus 
tunicata Lour, as of a Chinese palm : “ Le 
Rondier (B. tunicata) croit a la Chine et 
dans les Indes. Les Chinois meridionaux, 
comma les Indiens emploient ses grandes 
et larges feuilles palmees a fabriquer des 
evantails assez grands pour mettre plusieurs 
homines a l’abri du soleil et de la pluie.” 
The fruits of the Palmyra-palm are about 
the size of a child’s head and contain a milky 
juice like the Cocoa-nut, much used among 
the natives as medicine. Therefore the an- 
cient botanists called it “nux medica.” The 
long stalked leaves from 8 to 10 feet long, 
resemble a fan. They are used for many 
useful purposes, in the manufacture of bats, 
umbrellas, for thatching roofs &c. The 
same leaves furnish the paper used by the 
natives. According to Crawfurd the great- 
est part of the Pali literature was written on 
leaves of the Palmyra-palm, from 1 to feet 
long, by scratching the letters ' with an iron 
stylus. The writings are made legible by 
rubbing them with a black powder. 
The Sanscrit name of the Palmyra-palm 
is “tala” (rendered by the Chinese sounds 
To-lo v. s.) This name was known by Ar- 
rianus, who wrote (second century in his 
Hist. Ind. YII p. 43 : Arborum corticibus 
Indos vesci solitos fuisse, vocari autem eoruin 
lingua eas arbores Ta-la. 
But there is yet another Palm in India the 
leaves of which supply the natives with 
paper, the Corypha umbraculifera , or Tali- 
pot palm, a native of Ceylon and the Malabar 
coast. Some of the sacred books of the 
Singhalese are writen upon the leaves of this 
palm. 
As regards the Shu-tou-tsung (v. s. ) and 
the mode of obtaining wine from it in 
Burmah, as described by the ancient Chinese 
authors, this seems to refer also to Borassus 
flabelliformis. The “ Toddy ” or palmwine 
is obtained from the flower spikes (spathes) 
of the palm, from which it flows after an 
incision. It is intoxicating after fermen- 
tation. Toddy is also furnished by several 
other palms of India, namely Phoenix syl- 
vestris , Cocos nucifera , Arenga saccharif era, 
Caryota urens. 
8 and 9. jj|^ ij|| Feng-wei-tsiao 
and ^ Tie-shu-lcuo. 
Cycas species. 
I find in the Chi-wu-ming-shi-f'U-Pao the 
description and engravings of two palms, 
which are not described separately in other 
Chinese botanical works. Both seems to 
refer to species of Cycas. The following 
short accounts are there given of them. 
Feng-wei-tsiao (Phoenix’ 
rxx 
tail’s Banana) Ch. W. XXXVII. 28.— This 
is a tree of Southern countries. In Annum 
it grows abundantly. The trunk is covered 
with scales. The leaves resemble the leaves 
of the Tsung-lu (v. s.) are pointed, very 
hard, shining and smooth. If the tree is 
