opening table of contents lists entries, including 1,160 hand drawn diagrams and illustrations. Volume 1 to 4 – an index () and a comprehensive list of herbs to treat the most common sicknesses (). Volume 5 to 53 – the main text, contains 1,892 distinct herbs, of which 374 were added by Li Shizhen. There are 11,096 side prescriptions to treat common illness (8,160 of which are compiled in the text). The text is written in almost 2 million Chinese characters, classified into 16 divisions and 60 orders. For every herb there are entries on their names, a detailed description of their appearance and odor, nature, medical function, side effects, recipes, etc. Errors The text contains information that was proven to be wrong due to Li's limited scientific and technical knowledge. For example, it is claimed that lead is not toxic. Li also claimed that otters are only female and that the Moupin langur is tall, has backwards feet and can be caught when it draws its upper lip over its eyes. Evaluation The British historian Joseph Needham writes about the Compendium in his Science and Civilisation in China. The text provided classification of how traditional medicine was compiled and formatted, as well as biology classification of both plants and animals. The text corrected some mistakes in the knowledge of herbs and diseases at the time. Several new herbs and more details from experiments were also included. It also has notes and records on general medical data and medical history. The text includes information on pharmaceutics, biology, chemistry, geography, mineralogy, geology, history, and even mining and astronomy. See also Chinese herbology Mellified Man Pharmacognosy Yaoxing Lun References Bibliography (Review, Edward B. Jelks) . External links Chinese source text at zh.wikisource.org Pen ts'ao kang mu (The Great Herbal), page from 1672 edition, National Library of Medicine Ming dynasty literature Chinese medical texts Pharmacological classification systems 1578 books Memory of the World Register Pharmacopoeias Memory of the World Register in China