THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL ANI) TRANSACTIONS. [December 31,1870 
521 
but, as it can be used as farinaceous food, the terms 
rice, wheat, millet and pulse have been made use 
of.* * * § * The names Pao-ku (sheathed grain), Su-mi 
(millet rice), and Pao-su (sheathed millet), are the 
designations current in the southern provinces. 
“The stem grows to a height of 3 or 4 feet (42 to 
56 English inches) or upwards. At each joint a 
sheath is put forth, growing outwards from the side 
of the stem, in shape like the Tsung fish.I At the 
extremity of the sheath a beard of an inch or more 
in length is formed. The seeds are in size like those 
of the Tz plant,£ and are clustered together, enve¬ 
loped in several layers of a white external covering. 
It flowers about the end of summer. 
“ The Pun Ts’ao§ classes this plant with the 
cereals (Ka), remarking that its grain has a sweet 
flavour, and that its medicinal qualities are aperient. 
In poor country places and remote districts it is oc¬ 
casionally used as food. In the neigliboiuhood of 
Peking its common name is Yu-mi, or jade rice. 
“ The seeds are ground into flour and mixed in 
the proportion of one-tenth or one-fifth with wlieaten 
flour, to which it adds whiteness and an agreeable 
appearance ; but no one uses it as food by itself, from 
fear of indigestion. The maize grown in the pro¬ 
vince of Kwang-tung is slightly different, having 
vellowisli grains. 
“ It is said that maize abounds chiefly in the pro¬ 
vinces of Yun-nan and Kwei-cliow, where tradition 
asserts that it was brought from Cochin-china by Ma 
Fu-po,|' but there is no genuine evidence to this 
effect, and confidence must not be rashly placed in 
the tradition. Examination of the two works above 
quoted, both published under the Ming dynasty, 
elicits only that the seed was first brought from Si- 
fan ; but of the period at which this took place they 
say not a word. It is further noted that this grain 
was heretofore presented as tribute, but again no 
date is assigned. It is evident that its introduction 
must have taken place at a very early period; as, at 
the tune when these works were compiled, no infor¬ 
mation could be procured.” 
* The writer appears in this passage to be seeking to make 
clear the fact that the maize plant, not being indigenous to 
China, has no authorized appellation sanctioned by the uses 
of antiquity, and that hence the names under which it is 
known are merely comparative and fluctuating, according to 
individual or local choice, although the obvious characteristics 
of the plant confine the selection within the range of cereal 
species. 
t Tsung-yii, a species of Scircena, the tapering body of 
which resembles in some degree the bract of the maize 
plant. 
X Tz -shili, an aquatic plant, resembling the nelumbium, 
cultiv ated for its seeds, which are used in medicine. In size 
and farinaceous appearance they are not unlike those of the 
maize plant. [This has been proved on further investigation 
to be Euryale ferox, Sal.—H. F. II.] 
§ For note on the Pun Ts’ao and extracts respecting maize, 
see post. 
|! Ma I u-po, or Ma Tiiam, the celebrated general of 
Kwang W u of the Eastern Ham dynasty, a.d. 30. It is 
noteworthy that Chinese history records an expedition, headed 
by Ma Yiian, against the Si-fan tribes, in a.d. 36, prior to 
the campaign in Cochin-china, with which his name is most 
commonly associated. If the maize plant was really brought 
from the Si-fan territories to the Western Provinces* 5 of 
China, as the native records assert, it may well have been 
among the results of this early expedition; whilst a confusion 
in the popular tradition as to its origin is also not unintelli¬ 
gible, in view of the constant connection of Ma Yiiam’s name 
with his famous victories in Cochin-china. 
II. Extract from the Pun Ts'ao, or Cyclojuedia of 
Natural History. 
[Note .—The Pun Ts'ao Kang-mu was composed 
by Li Sliih-chen during the latter half of the six¬ 
teenth century, but was not published until after his 
death, having been laid before the Emperor Wan-li 
by his son in a.d. 1597. It remains to this day the 
standard work of reference among the Chinese for 
all subjects relating to natural history and medicine ; 
but the text of the original has been largely added 
to and reclassified by subsequent editors.* It has 
proved impossible to obtain a sight of an ancient 
copy of this work, and the extract translated below 
is taken from the edition of 1055, from which all 
later reprints have been made. The original plates 
are transferred to each edition, whether of octavo or 
duodecimo size; and a specimen from two of such 
editions is annexed hereto. Plate I. reproduces the 
engraving of the maize plant in the larger edition, 
and Plate II. shows the same drawing, reduced to a 
smaller scale. Plate III. is a figure of the Barbadoes 
millet (for note respecting which, see next page).] 
“ Yu-sliu-sliu , common name Yii-lcao-liang. 
“ The text of Li Shih-clien is as follows :f—The 
seed of the Yii-sJiu-sliu came from the lands on the 
West, and it is cultivated by but few. Its stalk and 
* Notwithstanding the additions to or reconstruction of 
the text by successive editors, the words of the original are, 
in accordance with invariable rule, both scrupulously pre¬ 
served and carefully distinguished. Thus, in the modern 
editions of the Pun Ts’ao, the text of the author is specifically 
quoted at the head of subsequent additions or commentaries, 
f See remarks in previous note. 
