It grows in Fu Chou and Nan Ngen Chou (now Yang Kiang in Kwang
Tung) in the mountain wilderness. That of Fu Chou makes a fine creeper,
resembling the fu-yung (Hibiscus mutabilis), green above and white
below, the root being like that of the ko (Pachyrhizus thunbergianus).
It is employed in the pharmacopeia, being finely chopped for this purpose
and soaked overnight in water in which rice has been scoured; then it is
soaked for another night in pure water and pounded: thus it is ready for
prescriptions.' This plant, as far as I know, has not yet been identified,
but it may well be identical with Polo's saffron of Fu Kien."
LXXX., pp. 226, 229 n.
THE SILKY FOWLS OF MARCO POLO.
Tarradale, Muir of Ord, Ross-shire, May 10, 1915.
In a letter lately received from my cousin Mr. George Udny Yule (St.
John's College, Cambridge) he makes a suggestion which seems to me both
probable and interesting. As he is at present too busy to follow up the
question himself, I have asked permission to publish his suggestion in The
Athenaeum, with the hope that some reader skilled in mediaeval French and
Italian may be able to throw light on the subject.
Mr. Yule writes as follows: -
"The reference [to these fowls] in 'Marco Polo' (p. 226 of the last
edition; not p. 126 as stated in the index) is a puzzle, owing to the
statement that they are black all over. A black has, I am told, been
recently created, but the common breed is white, as stated in the note and
by Friar Odoric.
"It has occurred to me as a possibility that what Marco Polo may have
meant to say was that they were black all through, or some such phrase.
The flesh of these fowls is deeply pigmented, and looks practically black;
it is a feature that is very remarkable, and would certainly strike any
one who saw it. The details that they 'lay eggs just like our fowls,' i.e.,
not pigmented, and are 'very good to eat,' are facts that would naturally
deserve especial mention in this connexion. Mr. A.D. Darbishire (of
Oxford and Edinburgh University) tells me that is quite correct: the flesh
look horrid, but it is quite good eating. Do any texts suggest the
possibility of such a reading as I suggest?"
The references in the above quotation are, of course, to my father's
version of Marco Polo. That his nephew should make this interesting little
contribution to the subject would have afforded him much gratification.
A.F. YULE.
The Athenaeum, No. 4570, May 29, 1915, p. 485.
LXXX., pp. 226, 230.
SUGAR.
"I may observe that the Peh Shi (or 'Northern Dynasties History') speaks
of a large consumption of sugar in Cambodgia as far back as the fifth
century of our era.
