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0252 Sino-Iranica : vol.1
Sino-Iranica : vol.1 / Page 252 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000248
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426   SING-IRANICA

extent, west of the Cape." F. P. SMITH,' with reference to this statement of Williams, asserts that the drug is unknown in Central China, and has not been met with in the pages of the Pen ts`ao. Likewise STUART,2 on referring to DuHalde and Williams, says, " No other authorities are found for this plant occurring in China, and it is not mentioned in the Pen ts`ao. The Customs Lists do not mention it; so, if exported as Williams claims, it must be by land routes. The subject is worthy of investigation." Cassia fistula is not listed in the work of Forbes and Hemsley.

There is no doubt that the trees described by DuHalde and Williams exist, but the question remains whether they are correctly identified. The name hwai used by Williams would rather point to a Sophora, which likewise yields a long pod containing one or five seeds, and his description of the pulp as reddish does not fit Cassia fistula. Contrary to the opinions of Smith and Stuart, the species of Williams is referred to in the Pen ts'ao kan mu.3 As an appendix to his a-pto-lo (instead of a-to-p`o), Li Si-ben treats of the seeds of a plant styled lo-wan-tse

quoting the Kwei hai yü hen ci by Fan C`en-ta (1126-93) as follows: " Its habitat is in Kwan-si. The pods are several inches long,

and are like those of the fei tsao JE - (Gleditschia or Gymnocladus sinen-

sis) and the tao tou J)   (Canavallia ensiformis). The color [of the

pulp] is standard red   Pl. Inside there are two or three seeds, which

when baked are eatable and of sweet and agreeable flavor."' This to-wan is identified with Tamarindus indica;5 and this, I believe, is also the above plant of Williams, which must be dissociated from Cassia fistula; for, while Li Si-èen notes the latter as a purely exotic plant, he does not state that it occurs in China; as to to-wan, he merely regards it as a kindred affair on account of the peculiar pods: this does not mean, of course, that the trees yielding these pods are related species. The fruit of Tamarindus indica is a large swollen pod from four to six inches long, filled with an acid pulp. In India it is largely used as food, being a favorite ingredient in curries and chutnies, and for pickling fish. It is also employed in making a cooling drink or sherbet.'

1 Contributions towards the Materia Medica of China, p. 53.

2 Chinese Materia Medica, p. 96.

3 Ch. 31, p. 9 b.

4 The text is exactly reproduced (see the edition in the Z`i pu tsu cai ts'un u,

P. 24).

6 MATSUMURA, No. 3076 (in Japanese côsen-modama-rabôsi).

6 WATT, Commercial Products of India, p. 1067.