PHARMACEUTICAL  NOTES.  291 
covered  every  where  with  a  wrinkled,  brown  skin  ;  internally  they 
are  of  a  pale  rusty  color,  [moist*  and]  easily  cut,  and  have  an 
aromatic  odor  and  sweetish  aromatic  taste. 
2.  "  Chuen-Keung ;  referred  to  as  1  Czuan-siun,  Had.  Levis- 
ticiV  in  Tatarinow,  Catal.  Med.  Sinens.,  p.  15. 
Nodular  masses  consisting  apparently  of  the  rootstock  of  some 
umbelliferous  plant  allied  to  Angelica.  The  specimens  are  from 
1 J  to  2J  inches  in  diameter,  having  a  very  irregular,  rough  brown, 
outer  surface,  and  a  pale  yellowish  brown,  cavernous  interior.f 
The  odor  of  the  drug  resembles  that  of  the  root  Tang-Kwei, 
(from  Aralia  edulis,  Sieb.  et  Zuccarini,  A.  cordata,  Thunb.,  Di- 
morphanthus  edidis,  Miquel,  Doku-quatz,  vulgo  Dosjen  by 
Kaempfer,)  resembling  that  of  Angelica  and  Celery." 
Mr.  Hanbury  adds  that  a  decoction  of  the  roots  described  is 
taken  by  the  Chinese  women  for  some  time  previous  to  child-birth, 
it  being  reputed  to  alleviate  its  dangers. 
This  reference,  together  with  a  noticeable  difference  between 
the  structure  of  these  roots  and  that  of  umbelliferous  roots  gener- 
ally, viz  :  the  absence  of  rays  in  the  cortical  portion,  which  ap- 
pears to  be  quite  characteristic  for  several  of  our  Aralioe,  as  those 
of  A.  nudicaulis,  A.  hispida,  A.  quinquefolia,  and  the  shortened 
branches  of  the  rhizoma  of  A.  raeemosa  ([Araliae  eduli]  affinitate 
proximo,  [Endlicher,  Enchiridion,  p.  394])  led  me  to  search  for 
a  probable  source  of  the  root  among  the  plants  of  the  family  of 
Araliacece,  and  without  being  at  all  sanguine  in  regard  to  it,  I 
would  make  a  suggestion,  which  I  hope  may  be  further  examined 
into  by  a  botanist. 
Under  the  names  of  Scutellaria  prima,  S.  secunda  and  S.  tertia, 
Rumpf  [Herb.  Amboinense,  vol.  iv.)  describes  resp.  Aralia  cochle- 
ata  (Panax  cochleatum,  DeC.  Prod.,  iv.  263,)  A.  pinnata  (P.  pin- 
natum,)  and  Aralia  fruticosa  (P.  fruticossum,  Linn.,  Sp.  PL,  1513. 
DeC,  Prod.,  iv.  254);  of  the  latter  plant  a  drawing  is  contained 
in  Andrews1  Repository,  ix.  pi.  595,  from  a  living  specimen  culti- 
vated in  England. 
The  following  is  the  quotation  from  Rumpf  s  description  of 
*  (Not  in  our  specimen.) 
t  [A  number  of  them  arranged  on  a  string  passed  through  narrow  holes,] 
