their practical application, and they take no 
notice of the cultivated plants. Most of the 
systematic explorers endeavour only to dis- 
cover new species or to create new genera in 
order to introduce their name into the science 
or to call the newly discovered plants after 
the name of a friend. But in this opinion 
our botanical authority in China, Dr. Hance, 
can not be included. Few savants can be 
found, who embrace all branches of botanical 
science like this remarkable botanist. 
In my opinion it would be more practical, 
in designating newly discovered plants, to 
preserve, if possible, the indigenous names, 
as has been done for instance with Magnolia 
Yii-lan, Paeonia Moutan, instead of giving 
them the names of savants or other persons, 
which often are dissonant or difficult to pro- 
nounce. Can anything more ridicu Ions be 
imagined than such names of plants as for 
instance Turczaninowia, Heineckiana, Miillera. 
Schultzia, Lehmannia, kc. * 
There is a good number of useful cultivated 
plants in China, which until now are known 
only by general names or by their Chinese 
names. How trifling is our knowledge about 
the numerous Chinese textile plants, which 
figure in the reports on trade under the name 
Hemp. At least the articles on this subject 
by M. Eondot f and Mr. Macgowan (Chinese 
Depository XVIII, and Chinese and Japan Re- 
pository 1863) give very meagre accounts. 
Only the plant Ch‘u-ma ( Boeh- 
meria nivea, which yields the grass cloth, 
M Sia-pu (summer cloth) has been 
carefully examined. 
* The celebrated naturalist Agassiz is right, in com- 
plaining (v. the description of his travels on the Ama- 
zon river). “II est pitoyable d’avoir dopouillii ces 
arbres (palms) des noins harmonieux qu’ils doivent 
aux Indiens, pour Ies enregistrer dans les annales de 
la science sous les noms obscures de princes que la 
flatterie seule pouvait vouloir sauver de 1 ’onbli. 1 ’Tnnja 
est devenu Maximiliana, — le Jara un Leopoldinia, — 
le Pupunha un Guilielma &c. 
t I would here observe, that Rondot in adducing a 
statement of Abel — who says that Sida tiliaefolia, cul- 
tivated near Peking, is here called SMng-ma — seeks to 
refute Abel, and proves, that the description of the 
SMng-ma (ft- so in the P 6 U-ts‘ao (XIII 29) 
does not agree with Sida. The last fact is true, but 
nevertheless Rondot is wrong. _ The hook’s name of 
Sida (Abutilon) tiliaefolia is £52 IjJijji King-ma or 
it 
Siang-ma (P. XV 53 Ch. W. XIV). At 
Peking where it is largely cultivated, especially on the 
banks of the rivers and canals, it is called 
Ma-lcuo (hemp with fruits,) and also SMng-ma. But 
in this case the sound Sheng relates to the character 
meaning rope. The fibres here are exclusively 
used for making ropes. This Malvacea attains, in 
damp places, a height of 10 feet and more, «nd the 
large leaves are often l£ feet in diameter. 
Tliere is no people on the globe, which cul- 
tivate such a great variety of vegetables and 
legumious plants as the Chinese. But the 
products of Chinese gardens are as little exam- 
ined by botanists as the textile plants, and we 
learn from our numerous works on China and 
its products only, that the Chinese cultivate 
red beans, black beans, broad beans, ensiform 
beans or great millet, small millet, black 
millet kc. 
Notwithstanding the works of some French 
savar.ts, which treat of Chinese dyeing ma- 
terials, (Eondot, le vert de Chine 1868 — Stan.' 
Julien and Champion, industries de Tempi re 
Chinois 1869) we know very little about the 
plants, which yield these dye stuffs and are 
for the most part obliged to quote the vague 
statements of Loureiro from the last cen- 
tury. 
Chinese joiners and carpenters use exten- 
sively some very precious woods, obtained in 
China, namely the Nan-mu , the 
Jfq Ts ™- t<an ’ t5ie yjv IIua ' 
li-mu, the Hung -mu. All these 
trees are described in the Pen-ts‘ao as grow- 
ing in Southern China, the Hung-mu (red 
wood) in Yiin-nan, the Nan-mu in Ssu-chuan, 
the Hua-li-mu in Hainan, Annam. Father 
Cibot asserts (Grosier, la Chine II 279) that 
the tree, which furnishes the valuable Nan-mu 
is a kind of cedar. But the Pen-ts‘ao says, 
that the leaves resemble an ox-ear. As re- 
gards the Hua-li-mu, Mr. Taintor in his in- 
teresting accounts on Hainan (Geographical 
sketch of Hainan, v. Reports on trade in 
China 1867) says: “several varieties of or- 
namental woods are obtained, the most a- 
bundant of which is the Hua-li, a hard, dark, 
handsomely veined wood, which is very neatly 
turned into a variety of articles.” Neverthe- 
less all these trees still do not seem to have 
been determined by botanists. Perhaps spec- 
imens of them may be included in the 
herbariums of our botanists, but they are not 
identified with the Chinese names. 
It occurs often, that the Chinese in differ- 
ent provinces, have different names for the 
same plant, which must occasion much confu- 
sion. But in such a case the Chinese always 
know besides the local name of the plant, 
the book name also of the Pen-ts‘ao, which 
they consider as the foundation of botanical 
knowledge. Li-shi-chen gives also a great 
number of synonyms of each plant. Accord- 
ing to the Phn-ts‘ao Jfjt Ta-ma (great 
. Hemp) relates to Cannabis sativa. But in 
j Peking the people understand by this pame 
