"The two ethnic names, which, as we have pointed out, were those of the Chinese invaders, Bak and Kutti or Kutta, are not altogether foreign to those regions. The Chinese Kutti and the Kussi, the Chinese Bak and Bakh, the ethnic of Bakhdi (Bactria), will be, most likely, one day proved to be the same ethnic names. Had not the Chinese, previous to my researches, and quite on different reasons, been traced back westerly to the regions of Yarkand and Khotan? This is not far distant from the old focus of culture of Central Asia, and the connection cannot be objected to by geographical reasons."--Vol. xv. part 2. [231] Dr. Williams, _Hien-ning_. [232] Williams, _Shi-Wéi_. [233] Williams, _Liu-Léi_. [234] Williams, _Shu King_. [235] Williams, _Yih and Ts‘ih_. [236] I am under the impression that the dragons to which Mencius refers were probably alligators, of which one small species still exists, though rare, in the Yang-tsze-kiang. So also we may regard as alligators the dragons referred to above in the annals of the Bamboo Books on the passage of the Kiang by Yu. Mr. Griffis, in his work on Corea, says, "The creature called _a-ke_, or alligator, capable of devouring a man, is sometimes found in the largest rivers." [237] For a full account of this work, see an Article by E. C. Bridgman in _Chinese Repository_, xviii. (1849), p. 169; and _Botanicon Sinicum_, by Dr. E. Bretschneider, in the _Journal_ of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series, vol. xvi. 1881. [238] _Notes on Chinese Literature_, A. Wylie, Shanghai and London, 1867. [239] "Bot. Sin." in _Journal_ of N. China Branch R. A. S., 1881. [240] _Journal Asiatique, Extr._ No. 17 (1839). [241] The three prefaces by these authors are given in _extenso_ in the Appendix to this Chapter. [242] The reader is referred, for a careful _précis_ of the contents of this valuable work, to an exhaustive paper entitled "Botanicon Sinicum," in the _Journal_ of North China Branch Royal Asiatic Society, 1881, by E. Bretschneider, M.D. [243] The character for a hare is very like the character for a devil. The Japanese, in quoting this passage, have fallen into this error. [244] The dragons' bones sold by apothecaries in China consist of the fossilized teeth and bones of a variety of species, generally in a fragmentary condition. The white earth striæ, or dragons' brains, here referred to, are probably asbestos. The asbestos sold in Chefoo market, under the name of Lung Ku or dragons' bones, is procured at O-tzu-kung. [245] The _boletus_, supposed to possess mystic efficacy. [246] The first two stories are from the _Ko Ku Shi Riyăh_, a recent history of Japan, from the earliest periods down to the present time, by Matsunai, with a continuation by a later author. They are contained in the first chapter of the first volume. The third is given as an ordinary item of news in the journal called the _Chin-jei-Nippo_, April 30th, 1884.