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GINSENG
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GINSENG , the See also:root of a See also:species of Panax (P. Ginseng), native of See also:Manchuria and See also:Korea, belonging to the natural See also:order Araliaceae, used in See also:China as a See also:medicine. Other roots are substituted for it, notably that of Panax quinquefolium, distinguished as See also:American ginseng, and imported from the See also:United States. At one See also:time the ginseng obtained from Manchuria was considered to be the finest quality, and in consequence became so scarce that an imperial See also:edict was issued prohibiting its collection. That prepared in Korea is now the most esteemed variety. The root of the See also:wild plant is preferred to that of cultivated ginseng, and the older the plant the better is the quality of the root considered to be. See also:Great care is taken in the preparation of the See also:drug. The See also:account given by Koempfer of the preparation of nindsin, the root of Sium ninsi, in Korea, will give a See also:good See also:idea of the preparation of ginseng, ninsi being a similar drug of supposed weaker-See also:GIOBERTI 29 virtue, obtained from a different plant, and often confounded with ginseng. " In the beginning of See also:winter nearly all the See also:population of Sjansai turn out to collect the root, and make preparations for sleeping in the See also:fields. The root, when collected, is macerated for three days in fresh See also:water, or water in which See also:rice has been boiled twice; it is then suspended in a closed See also:vessel over the See also:fire, and afterwards dried, until from the See also:base to the See also:middle it assumes a hard, resinous and translucent See also:appearance, which is considered a See also:proof of its good quality." Ginseng of good quality generally occurs in hard, rather brittle, translucent pieces, about the See also:size of the little See also:finger, and varying in length from 2 to 4 in. The See also:taste is mucilaginous, sweetish and slightly See also:bitter and aromatic. The root is frequently forked, and it is probably owing to this circumstance that medicinal properties were in the first See also:place attributed to it, its resemblance to the See also:body of a See also:man being supposed to indicate that it could restore virile See also:power to the aged and impotent. In See also:price it varies from 6 or 12 dollars to the enormous sum of 300 or 400 dollars an See also:ounce. See also:Lockhart gives a graphic description of a visit to a ginseng See also:merchant. Opening the See also:outer See also:box, the merchant removed several See also:paper parcels which appeared to fill the box, but under them was a second box, or perhaps two small boxes, which, when taken out, showed the bottom of the large box and all the intervening space filled with more paper parcels. These parcels, he said, " contained quicklime, for the purpose of absorbing any moisture and keeping the boxes quite dry, the See also:lime being packed in paper for the See also:sake of cleanliness. The smaller box, which held the ginseng, was lined with See also:sheet-See also:lead; the ginseng further enclosed in See also:silk wrappers was kept in little silken-covered boxes. Taking up a piece, he would See also:request his visitor not to breathe upon it, nor handle it; he would dilate upon the many merits of the drug and the See also:cures it had effected. The See also:cover of the root, according to its quality, was silk, either embroidered or See also:plain, See also:cotton See also:cloth or paper." In China the ginseng is often sent to See also:friends as a valuable See also:present; in such cases, " accompanying the medicine is usually given a small, beautifully-finished See also:double See also:kettle, in which the ginseng is prepared as follows. The inner kettle is made of See also:silver, and between this and the outside vessel, which is a See also:copper jacket, is a small space for holding water. The silver kettle, which fits on a See also:ring near the See also:top of the outer covering, has a See also:cup-like cover in which rice is placed with a little water; the ginseng is put in the inner vessel with water, a cover is placed over the whole, and the apparatus is put on the fire. When the rice in the cover is sufficiently cooked, the medicine is ready, and is then eaten by the patient, who drinks the ginseng See also:tea at the same time." The dose of the root is from 6o to 90 grains. During the use of the drug tea-drinking is forbidden for at least a See also:month, but no other See also:change is made in the See also:diet. It is taken in the See also:morning before breakfast, from three to eight days together, and sometimes it is taken in the evening before going to See also:bed. The See also:action of the drug appears to be entirely psychic, and comparable to that of the See also:mandrake of the See also:Hebrews. There is no See also:evidence that it possesses any pharmacological or therapeutic properties.
See See also:Porter See also: 112; See also:Kaempfer, Amoenitates exoticae, p. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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