GINSENG, the root of a species of Panaa: (P. Ginseng, Meyer), belonging to the natural order Araliacece, is a very celebrated Chinese medicine. The demand is so great that many other roots are substituted for it, notably that of Panda: quz'nquqfolium, Linn, distinguished as American ginseng, and imported from the United States. At one time the ginseng obtained from Manchuria was considered to be the finest quality, and in consequence became so scn'ce that an imperial edict was issued prohibit- ing its collection. That prepared in Corea is now the most esteemed variety. The root of the 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. Lockhart states that all the ginseng collected in the Chinese empire is imperial property, and is sold to those who have the privilege of dealing in it at its weight in gold. Great care is taken in the preparation of the druv. The account given by Koempfer of the preparation of nindsin, the root of I 'z'um niusi, Thunb., in the Corea, will give a good idea of the preparation of ginseng, ninsi being a similar drug of sup- posed weaker virtue, obtained from a different plan-t, and often confounded with ginseng. “ In the beginning of winter nearly all the population of Sjansai turn out to collect the root, and make preparations for sleeping in the fields. The root, when collected, is macerated for three days in fresh water, or water in which rice has been boiled twice ; it is then suspended in a closed vessel over the fire, and afterwards dried, until from the base to the middle it assumes a hard, resinous, and translucent appearance, which is considered a proof of its good quality.”
Ginseng of good quality generally occurs in hard, rather brittle, translucent pieces, about the size of the little finger, and varying in length from 2 to 4 inches. The taste is mucilaginous, sweetish, and slightly bitter and aromatic. The root is frequently forked, and it is probably owing to this circumstance that medicinal properties were in the first place attributed to it, its resemblance to the body of a man being supposed to indicate that it could restore virile power to the aged and impotent. In price it varies from 6 or 12 dollars to the enormous sum of 300 or 400 dollars an ounce. toot of this quality can of course only be pur— chased by the most wealthy, and the greatest care is taken of such pieces by the vendors.
Lockhart gives a graphic description of a. visit to a ginseng merchant. Opening the outer box, the merchant removed several 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 quieklime, for the. purpose of absorbing any moisture and keeping the boxes quite dry, the lime being packed in paper for the sake of cleanli- ness. The smaller box, which held the ginseng, was lined with sheet—lead ; the ginseng further enclosed in silk wrappers was kept in little silken-covered boxes. Taking up a piece, he would request his visitor not to breathe upon it, nor handle it; he would dilate upon the many merits of the drug and the cures it had effected. The cover of the. rent, according to its quality, was silk, either embroidered or plain, cotton cloth, or paper." In China the gin- sen;r is often sent to friends as a valuable present; in such cases, “ accompanying the medicine is usually given a small, beautifullv- finished double kettle, in which the ginseng is prepared as follows. The inner kettle is made of silver, and between this and the outside ves5cl, which is a copper jacket, is a small space for holding Water. The silver kettle, which fits on a. ring near the top of the outer covering, has a 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. \Vhen the rice in the cover is sufficiently cooked. the medicine is readv, and 1s then eaten by the patient, who drinks the ginseng tea at the same time.” The dose of the root is from 60 to 90 graitis. During the usc of the drug tea-drinking is forbidden for at least a month, but no other change is made in the diet. It is taken in the mornintr before breakfast, from three to eight davs torrether. and sometimes it is taken in the. evening before going to bed?
At one time it was proposed by some Russians to establish ginseng plantations, with the view of growing the root as an important article of trade with China. Ginseng is also cultivated in Japan, having been introduced from (‘orea; but, although it grows more luxuriantly there than in its native country, the root is considered to be much less active. This may be due to the fact that, while in the mountains of Corca the root is perennial, in Japan the plant runs to seed the first year, and becomes annual. Europeans have hitherto failed to discover any remarkable properties in the drug. Dr l’ortcr Smith, however, mentions having seen some cases in which life appeared to be prolonged fora time by its use; and M. Maack states that one of the Cossacks of his tarty, having chopped off a finger accidentally with an axe, applic ointment made from ginseng, and the wound healed rapidly. lts properties, which may be likened to those of the mandrake of Scripture, are pcrhaps dependent in great measure upon the faith of the patient.
See Porter Smith, Chinese Malena [III-dice, p. 103; Reports on 'I'adc at the Treaty Ports of Chi-71a, 1868, p. 63; Lockhart, JIM. fllissz'onm‘y in China, 2d ed., p. 107; Bull. do In Société Impcriah dc Nat. dc illoscow, 1865, No. 1, pp. 70—76; Pharmaceutical Jour- nal, (2), vol. iii. pp. 197, 333, (2), vol. ix. p. 77; Lewis, Malaria. rlchica, p. 324; Journal of Bola-71y, 1864, p. 320; Geoffrey, Tract. dc Jfatcrié Illcdimlc, t. ii. p. 112; Loureiro, Flora Cochim'hinensis. p. 656; Kocmpfcr, Amwnitatcs Eroticw, p. 824.
sophical writer of modern Italy, and one of the most interesting actors in the recent history of the country, was born in Turin on the 5th April 1801, the only child of parents in moderate circumstances there, and was educated by the fathers of the Oratory with a view to the priesthood, to which he was ordained in 1825. His study of the ancient philosophers, and the fathers and doctors of the church, occupied him for years, during which he led a very retired life; gradually, however, he took more and more interest in the affairs of his country, as well as in the litera- ture of the day, entering warmly into the new ideas then beginning to be discussed in connexion with politics. The freedom of Italy from foreign masters became his ruling motive in life, and this freedom in his conception of it was an emancipation, not only from armed masters, but from modes of thought alien to its genius, and detrimental to its European authority. This authority was in his mind con- nected with papal supremacy, though in a way quite novel-— intellectual rather than political. One must remember this in considering nearly all his writings, and also in estimating his position, both in relation to the ruling clerical party— the J esuits—and also in relation to the politics of the court of Piedmont after the accession of Charles Albert in 1831. He was now noticed by the king and made one of his chaplains. His popularity and private influence, however, were masons enough for the court party to mark him for exile; he was not one of them, and could not be depended on. Knowing this, he in 1833 asked permission to resign his Chaplaincy, but was suddenly arrested while walking with a friend in the public gardens, and, after an imprisonment of four months, sent out of the country in the escort of a. carabineer, under decree of banishment. This was done without trial or process—simply, it. would appear, by private influence of the clerical party, his name being at the same time struck off the list of theological. doctors of the college of Turin. With broken fortunes and ruined plans Gioberti arrived in Paris in the beginning of October 1833. A year later he went to Brussels, where he spent the best period of his life from that time to 1845, teaching phil0sophy, and assisting in the work of a College superintended by his friend Gaggia, yet finding time, by rising early and sitting late, to write many works of great importance in philosophical inquiry, but bearing a special relation to his country and its position. His spirits never returned to him, however, as his whole being was bound up with the welfare of his native country. All amnesty having been passed by Charles Albert in 1846, Gioberti had liberty to return to Italy, just as Pius IX. in the beginning of his pontificatc manifested strongly liberal sympathies. Gioberti took no step, however, on the end
of 1847, and (lid not return to his native land till after
