PANAX GINSENG

It is said that the best ginseng formerly came from this Shangtang, but at present no true ginseng is produced in that part of Shansi; on the contrary, the place is famous for its production of “bastard ginseng” from Adenophora (which article see) and other campanulaceous plants. The ginseng which is considered to be the best is the wild growing variety of Manchuria, and the next in repute is that coming from Korea. The former is practically all reserved for Imperial use, while the ordinary qualities of the latter are the best that appear on the general market. Japanese and American ginseng are also found in quantities, but these, especially the latter, are considered to be much inferior to the Korean kind. American ginseng is considered by Western physicians to have no medicinal virtues worth mentioning, and is thought to be a superfluous member of the Pharmacopœia. But entirely apart from ideas of its astral relations, true Chinese ginseng is persistently held by the Chinese to have stimulant, tonic, and restorative properties, which give it its high place in their pharmacology. It is probable that the Manchurian drug has not been carefully studied by any European observer on account of its scarcity, the Imperial monopoly, and its exceeding high price; this best quality being valued at Taels 6,400 a picul, and the superior sort costing as much as 250 times its weight in silver. For these reasons also only two or three complete herbarium specimens of the Manchurian wild ginseng plant are to be found in the museums of Europe. The ordinary ginseng of the markets has been studied and has not been found to possess any important medicinal properties. But the Chinese describe cases in which the sick have been practically in articulo mortis, when upon the administration of ginseng they were sufficiently restored to transact final items of business.