Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 2 (1876).djvu/178

156 object in the place. In the Mongohan language it is called Zandamoto, but the same word applies to the arborescent juniper and to other useful trees; for instance, the walnut-wood stocks of guns are 'zandamoto;' the leaves of the sacred tree are said to be about the size of those of the common lime. The Tibetan letters are of course inscribed by the lamas, or perhaps exist only in the imagination of devout believers. And the tree itself is most probably a native of Kan-su, as it grows in the open air, and can therefore bear the severity of the climate. We attach no weight to the mere fact of its being considered by all Buddhists as sacred and unique; what strange beliefs and superstitions obtain credence even in Europe! Kumbum is famed for its school of medicine, in which young lamas destined to practise that art receive instruction. During the summer the students repair to the neighbouring mountains to collect herbs, which are the only remedies known in the Tibetan pharmacopœia. Of course a great deal of hocus pocus is added, but it is not improbable that by these means discoveries unknown to European science are made in the healing art. I think that anyone who had made medical botany his study