کھئے
In eachment on the lines.
indicated in this rehost woul. not.
I believe be. E
hardship by
ed upon the Chinese. From
AL
my
say
own experience I am able to
that
many
of the native vendors
exercise considerabl; care in the
seeling of poisons. I should not be
surprised it the
welcome por
ich were fo
mas ist
their own protection the
conditions of sale set forth above.
I have re.
Sof. M. E. Cow.
Apothecary Analyst.
The Monial Surgeon
4
NOTES ON CHINESE MATERIA MEDICA.
name is sometimes awarded to dissimilar plants. In the Pên taido, where this plant is both figured and described, and in the Chih wu, where only a description is given, it occurs under the name Wan t'o lo fa. The name Nao yang hua is also found in both these works, but, as a synonym of
Yang chih chu, a plant which from the excellent figure in the latter, is unquestionably a species of Azalen or Rhododendron. The observations of Tata- rinov prove that in the North of China a species of Datura is known by the first name:8 and the investigations of Lou- reiro, J. Russel Reeves, E. H. Parker and ourselves, establish, so far as the Kwang- tung province la concerned, the identity of the second name with the plant under notice.
In the Pên là'ao, the following occur as synonyms of Wan t'o lo hua, viz.,
al
C. Fung ke yi, M. Fêng chrish érk c. Shan k1e tsz, M. Shan
ch'ich tzů.
HISTORY, USE &c. --The celebrated Jesuit missionary Loureiro was the first European to mention Datura as an article of Chinese Materia Medica. In his Flora Cochin- chinensis, (p. 136)-a work defined by Dr. Bretschneider as 'a valuable monument of conscientious labour and considerable re- search—it is mentioned as a soporific, inebriant, and antispasmodic. The smoke of the bruised root is described as affording
1. Pên ta'ao, Ch. XVII., Fig. No. 366; Chih wa, Pt. 1, Ch. XIV., p. 56 and Pt. 2, Ch. XXIV., p. 19 (figure). In the N. of China, there is stili some confusion surrounding the flowers known as Nao yang hua and Yang chih chu. In Ta- tarinov's catalogue the former are mentioned as derived from a species of Hyoscyamus (No. 309) and the latter are doubtfully referred to H. niger (No. 223). Porter Smith states that the n- dromeda, Hyoscyamus and Azalea are more correctly called by these nates.' (Cont. to Mat. Med., p. 84). Soubeiran and Dabry de Thiersant state that their specimens were solely those of an Azalea. (Mat. Méd., p. 191). 2. Cut, med, sin., Nos. 177 and 476.
3. The Chil wu description of Wan to lo without doubt resembles that of a Datura,
4. Flor. Cochin., p. 185.
5. Canton Plants, p. 107.
3
temporary relief in asthma, aud a to- pical application of the braised fresh leaves is said to be efficacious, in the treatment of hæmorrhoids and offensive ulcers,1 In the
Hsi yuan lu or Instructions to Curouers, it is referred to in the following terms:-'When taken internally, it pro- duces insensibility, and death frequently resulta therefrom.' In the Kwangtung pro- vince, it is used to produce stupefaction for the purpose of theft or kidnapping, and wa have seen many such cases brought before the courts.
A plant called by the Chinese Nas yang hua had long been known to Police Magis- trates in Hongkong, as furnishing material in use by robbers to drug their victims; but, although frequently brought to notice in the Law Courts, we have failed to find any reference to warrant our assuming that prior to 1882 it had been identified by the authorities with the well-known Datura alba.2
It is singular that in only one of the ex- tensive series of reports of Medical Officers to the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, do we find any reference to the wao of Datura by the Chinese. This occurs in Dr. Dudgeon's report on the health of Pekin for the half-year ending March 31st, 1875,8 where it is stated to be recommended in all wind diseases (convulsions): when eaten, unconscious laughter is set up, and the person acts as if intoxicated. It may be used as an anaesthetic, and in infusion as
1. We give Loureiro's account of the uses of Datura because of the high value of the ob- servations he makes on the medicinal virtues of the plants mentioned in his Flora. He remarks Ilabitat inculta per vias et hortos in Cochin- China, in China et in Africa, ubi a me sæpo examinata; but does not say to which country the uses subsequently detailed are applicable. The description tallies, however, with the ac- counts of more recent investigators. (See Bret- schneider, Ear. Eur. Res., for an opinion on the value of Loureiro's work in particular and that of the Jesuits in general).
2. I remeraber a case prior to 1876, where there flowers were believed to have been used for dragging; but no record can be found in proof of this.-C. X.
3. Med. rep. I.M.C., IX., p. 37.
134
8.-Datura alba,1 Nees.
閙羊花
THORN APPLE,
N. 0. Solauaces.
- Man to lo fa.
M.-Wan t'o lo hua.
( C.-Nau yeung fa.
M.—Nao yang huo.
Pên tsao Cb. xvii., Fig. 365; Chih wu,
Pt. I., Uh. xiv., p. 89, no figure; Hsi
yüan lu. Vol III, p. 46.
A study of this important drug affords an illustration of a fact which ought never to be overlooked by the student of Chinese Materia Medios, viz., that in different parts of the Empire of China, the same plant has often several names, and that the same
1. D. fastuosa, Lion., in Sir J. D. Hooker's Flor. Br. Ind., IV., 242; D. alba, Nees, and D. metel, Roxb. are regarded as mere varieties,