CHINESE MEDICINE
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weakness, etc., may be too far fetched, but the basic idea of endocrinology exists. In recent years a great variety of glandular substance has been used in medicine. Of these the thyroid, pituitary, suprarenals, pancreas, liver and the placenta, have been found to be of therapeutic value. It is remarkable that many of them have been used and incorporated in Chinese pharmacopoeia for ages past.
The Ming dynasty is the most glorious in the history of the pharmacopoeia of China. The most important contribution is the Pen Tsao Kang Mu (†1), the National Pharmacopoeia of China, compiled by Li Shi-chen. This is one of the most popular works on Chinese medicine, and is considered a great classic. It consists of some 52 comprehensive volumes divided into the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom, the mineral kingdom and others, with a description of 1,892 kinds of different substances.
It contains many drugs which are common in both the East and the West. It took Li Shi-chen, the city magistrate, almost thirty years of hard work to complete this commendable piece of good work. This book is extremely rich in remedies, especially those of the vegetable origin, and offers a rich field for scientific research. Considerable attention has been directed to it by foreign writers, notably Du Halde who translated part of it into French in 1735 and Porter Smith in 1871.
In 1911, Stuart extensively revised Smith's work and published the Chinese Materia Medica, the vegetable kingdom. Works on the mineral kingdom and the avian kingdom were published by Bernard Read in recent years. An attempt was started by the Chinese Government to carry out scientific research on the drugs contained in the Chinese Materia Medica, but the war with Japan aborted the work.
Perhaps, the earliest Chinese drug that has won its way abroad is China root, the so-called Chinese sarsaparilla, once reputed as a remedy for syphilis. Its fame spread as far as to India, Persia and Turkestan in the 16th century, and in Indian literature it was mentioned that syphilis came from Europe but China root could cure it. Eumenol, a liquid extract of tang kuei (†14), was introduced into Europe by the Germans in 1899, and is said to be effective in menstrual disorders.
Macanin, a preparation from a Chinese seaweed, has been put on the market by the Japanese and vigorously advertised as a sub-