AmDec.?i88h7arm'}      Chinese  Drug  Stores  in  America.  595 
#  Of  Kbm  ts'b.    Liquorice  root. 
it  b  Wdi  shdn.    The  root  of  a  water  plant. 
&  jfu  Pdk  shut.  The  root  of  Atractylodes  alba}  From  Szechuen 
province. 
The  medicines  are  all  imported  from  China,  either  from  Hong 
Kong  or  Canton,  and  reach  here  in  their  crude  state,  the  herbs  and 
barks  in  large  pieces,  and  the  tubers  and  roots  usually  entire.  It  is 
customary  to  cut  the  former  in  small  pieces,  and  slice  the  latter  in 
delicate  segments,  before  placing  them  in  the  drawers  and  boxes  for 
sale.  A  large  cleaver,  yeuh  ts(oi  h'ap,  mounted  with  a  hinge  upon  a 
slightly  inclined  table,  is  employed  to  chop  the  grasses  and  herbs  in 
convenient  lengths,  while  the  tubers  are  sliced  upon  an  instrument 
resembling  a  carpenter's  plane,  yeuh  p'd,  inserted  in  a  long  bench  upon 
which  the  operator  sits,  the  pieces  falling  through  upon  a  tray  placed 
beneath.  A  canoe-shaped  mortar  of  cast-iron,  yeuh  shun,  is  employed 
to  reduce  some  of  the  more  refractory  nuts  and  minerals  to  powder. 
It  stands  upon  four  legs,  and  a  heavy  disk  of  iron  is  rolled  backwards 
and  forwards  within  it  by  means  of  a  wooden  axle  to  which  the  opera- 
tor applies  his  feet,  while  his  hands  are  free  to  perform  other  work. 
The  clerks  who  dispense  the  medicines  have  usually  had  some  ex- 
perience at  home.  They  are  paid  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  dollars 
per  month,  with  their  board  and  lodging,  the  current  wages  among 
the  Chinese  here  for  unskilled  labor;  but  their  work  is  light,  and 
they  sometimes  assist  with  the  lottery  drawings  for  which  they  receive 
additional  compensation.  They  frequently  act  as  bookkeepers,  and, 
in  common  with  the  shop-keeping  class,  are  brighter  and  better  edu- 
cated than  the  mass  of  the  immigrants.  Their  knowledge  of  medicine 
is  derived  almost  entirely  from  experience,  no  books  on  the  subject 
being  used  or  studied  by  them  and  the  Pun  tso,  or  Herbal,  is  not  to  be 
found  in  any  of  their  shops. 
The  prescriptions  furnished  by  the  native  doctors,  which  are  usually 
written  upon  Chinese  letter-paper  and  a  foot  in  length,  contain  only  a 
list  of  the  names  and  quantities  of  the  medicines  required,  with  con- 
cise directions  for  their  preparation,  no  date  or  signature  being  ap- 
pended. Upon  being  presented  to  the  clerk  over  the  counter,  he 
weighs  out  the  ingredients,  and  places  them  separately  upon  a  large 
sheet  of  paper,  going  over  them  carefully  afterwards  to  prevent  any 
possible  mistake.    A  hand  balance,  li  tang,  is  used,  consisting  of  a 
1  Customs  Collection.   No.  4082. 
