The San Francisco call., 1899-04-23

English. and a true panacea for all Ills.
according to the dose and the manner of
taking,
The medicine consisted Of tiny red pills
with strong eder of musk. They are
made by one family in China, who alone
possess the secret of their composition,
Their manufacture has made the family
famous and rich for hundreds of years.
but no blasphemous analytical chemist
has ever attempted to solve the mystery
Of their ingredients. It would be most
affronting to the god who first gave the
secret to its possessors ancestor. But
the little red pills are expensive, and
Suey, who says she has to die some time,
anyhow, would not waste any precious
gold on them. for they are one of num-
ber Of medicines which must be paid for
by an equal weight in gold. The medicine
is put in one scale and the pure gold must
balance the weight Of the pills; SO they
are literally worth their weight in gold
The druggist laid the prescription on the
counter and with q long wooden block ran
over the items and laid large square
of paper on the counter in which TO place
the ingredients. Two other men were
making prescriptions for customers, tax
ing the herbs from the drawers whlcn
lined the wall back Of the counter. There
were ninety drawers in one square, and
over and below were thirty more, all un-
labeled. but the mixers of medicine never
hesitated az to which drawer tney
wanted.
There were plenty Of customers, ana
two men were busy cutting up the roots
and what seemed like dried VegelaDles
into thin, attractive waters
Over the door to small private once
was a sign in black letters on red paper,
step inside to look at the ginseng BE
side the sign was another, cinnamon Is
kept here" asked why the ginseng ana
cinnamon were kept in the other ROOM
and was told 1t is because they are SO
valuable Like the little red 'supernat-
ural treasures" ginseng and the CHINA
man bark which Chinese druggists use
are worth their weight in gold.
The druggist was putting up the pre-
scription and Suey asked him TO tell US
what each thing was and what 1t was 1or'
First he counted out ten dried bad
smelling bits Of gristle, which he said were
the sinews of deer Deer are very meet
of foot and never are tired, so for the
tired feeling" the sinews were remedy.
Then he put In a handful of reddish
brown pressed leaves. They are the leaves
of the Haw Show Woo tree and are to
make one feel young again. The hrst
Haw Show Woo tree was a gift or the
gods thousands Of years ago.
Chinese herbs usually have some legend
connected with them to illustrate their
virtues and this is the story connected
with the "Haw'' herb: Haw Show Woo
was a very good, very devout and very
old man. One day he was accused of
stealing the affections of his brother
wife and was sent to prison for trial he
became very hungry and prayed to the
gods as became man of his great plety
During the night a bush sprang up
through the floor Of his dungeon, and in
the morning the famished man ate the
leaves. Days went by while he was walt
ing for his trial and he continued to piece
out his scanty diet with the leaves of the
bush When he was taken into court for
trial the officers exclaimed: This is not
the man who was arrested and confined
In the cell. The culprit is an old man;
this is a young man.
Sure enough Haw had become a young
man to all appearances again.
They investigated the case anyhow and
discovered that Haw was innocent all the
while.
Before taking the shackles off the pris-
oner ey asked him If he was really Haw.
az - he replied.
1hen tell us about this wonderful
change in your appearance" So Haw told
him the story of the little plant that had
grown UP in his cell and how he had eaten
the leaves
The officials dug up the shrub and pre-
sented it to the Emperor His family for
many years was the only one that had the
privilege of eating the sacred leaves. But
as time passed slips were cut from 1T and
sent through the kingdom and now the
commonest coolie may eat OF the wonder