The author of The Compendium of Materia Medica was Li Shih-chen (1518-93), a pioneering scholar in the field of medicinal research in the late Ming. A native of Ch’i-chou in Hukuang (modern Ch’i-ch’un in Hupei), Li Shih-chen achieved the first-degree hsiu-ts'ai in 1531, but gave up obtaining the second-degree chü-jen after three unsuccessful attempts between 1534 and 1540.]

Once his fingers strayed to the handle of his hunting-knife, and I should have interfered had I not been conscious that Wickliffe was on his guard.

When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. He had him gripped firmly by the arm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him.

The children were bouncing a ball against a wall.