the Ricinus communis * and call the common 
Hemp yj-* Jjjjjfc Slao-ma (little Hemp). 
According to Bridgman’s Chrestoraathy, Ca- 
rica papaya, the Papaw tree in Canton is called 
Jc M Mu-hua (wood melon). But in Chi- 
nese books, as also in Peking, Mu-kua denotes 
Cydonia, the Quince. 
For the first knowledge of Chinese botany 
and Chinese plants we are indebted to the 
Jesuits, who since the end of the 16th century 
have preached the gospel in China and stud- 
ied the country and its people. As a curiosity 
I will cite a small botanical pamphlet (76 
pages) by Pater Boym, who lived in China 
from 1643-69. This first essay in this depart- 
ment, issued in the year 1666 in Vienna, bears 
the pretentious name “ Flora Sinensis ” but 
contains only the description of 20 interesting 
plants and some animals, and 23 drawings 
with the Chinese characters. This little work 
is very rare. All accounts of Chinese natural 
science furnished by the Jesuits (namely by 
Father Martini in his Atlas Shlensis 1666) 
are collected in the admirable work of Du 
Halde, Description de la Chine 1736. There 
have been described a good number of Chi- 
nese plants, animals, minerals, for the most 
part translations from Chinese books, and also 
represented by rude drawings. 
A work similar to that, drawn up by 
Du Halde, was published in the year 1818 by 
Grosier, Description gene rap de la Chine in 7 
volumes. Nearly 8 volumes treat oi Chinese 
natural science, 660 pages of them are dedi- 
cated to botany. The work of Grosier is most 
entirely compiled from the Memoires con- 
cernant les Chinois and other works of the 
Jesuits, in the 18th century. Although the 
articles on Chinese plants of the ancient 
Jesuits bear no scientific character, they how- 
ever contain many interesting accounts, either 
drawn from Chinese authors or the results of 
their own observation. Grosier has also in- 
cluded in his book a great part of Lovreiro's 
Flora Cochin Chinensis published in the year 
1790. Loureiro, a Portuguese missionary, des- 
cribed therein a great number of plants of 
Cochin China and Southern China, joining to 
the scientific names also the local Chinese 
names. Notwithstanding the great renown 
* The book name for Ricinus, known only in apotheca- 
ry shops, is Ah Pi-ma (P. XVIIa. 32.) The 
Pen-tsao ranges it under the poisonous plants. It is 
known, that the seeds, if eaten are very poisonous, 
whilst the oil extracted from them, the common 
Castor-oil, is an innoxious purgative. Some assert, 
that the Chinese use the Castor-oil as food, which loses 
its purgative action by boiling. As far as I know, 
the Castor-oil in Peking is only used for lamps and in 
medical practice. Li-shi-cheu explains the character Pi 
by the resemblance of the seeds with an insect he calls 
1 17TB 
(oxen louse.) It cannot be decided from 
Chinese hooks whether or not the Ricinus is indigenous 
in China. The plant is not mentioned before the Tang 
(>18-907. The character Pi is not found in the ancient 
dictionary Shuo-wSu (100 A. I)). 
of this work, being the only Flora of these 
countries extant, Loureiro, seems not to have 
possessed the necessary botanical knowledge, 
for it lias been often impossible for modern 
botanists, to recognize from Loureiro’s descrip- 
tion the plants determined by him. 
Eighteen years after Grosier’s work appear- 
ed, another compilation on China was published 
(1836) by 5 authors, Murray, Cranfurd, Gor- 
don , Wallace, Burnet, an historical and des- 
criptive account on China. Burnet has elabor- 
ated the division which treats on natural 
science, and collected all notes of travellers 
and naturalists concerning Chinese plants, 
; animals, Ac. Therein are also to be found 
“ Fragments towards a Flora, of China." 
The first, who studied Chinese books on 
natural history provided with the necessary 
knowledge of natural science was the well- 
known sinologue Dr. S. W. Williams. Besides 
several articles on this subject, published in 
the Chinese Depository, Dr. Williams first 
tried to identify Chinese names of plants, 
animals and minerals, found in the Pen-ts‘ao 
Kang-mu, with the European scientific names. 
The three chapters in Bridgman's Chrestom- 
athy 184J, treating of Botany, Zoology and 
Mineralogy are compiled by this remarkable 
Sinologue. 
In the year 1850, Dr. Tatarinov, physician 
of the Russian ecclesiastical mission in Pee- 
king, during 10 years, published a list of 
drugs obtained from the Chinese apothecary 
shops. Tatarinov, well versed in Chinese, 
gathered all medicinal plants growing near 
Peking.* The plants and drugs collected 
by him have been examined and determined 
by special savants in St. Petersburg. This 
is the origin of I'atarinov's Catalogus medi- 
camentorum sinensium. Some of the drugs 
are described in Gauger’s Repertorium f. 
Pharmacie w. praet. Cliemie in Russland 
1848. Heft. 12. But a good number of the 
drugs in the catalogus lias not been recog- 
nized; and Tatarinov has often made use of 
Loureiro’s diagnosis, which merits bat little 
confidence. 
A small, but very valuable work, which 
treats also of Chinese drugs and medicinal 
plants, is Dr. Haubury's Notes on Chinese 
Materia inedica 1862. 
I would finally mention a small treatise, 
which likewise endeavours to identify Chi- 
nese names of plants with the scientific ones, 
entitled: Noms indigenes d'un choix de 
plantes du Japon et de la Chine par J. Hoff* 
mann et H. Schultes 1853. M. Hoffmann 
says in the preface, that the Floras of Japan 
and China are very similar, and concludes, 
that, if the same characters to designate 
* The hills to the West of Peking are famed for their 
riches in medicinal herbs, hut very many Chinese 
drnsrs come also from Ssu-clruan, Hunan, and Shan- 
tung. 
