The herb "má huáng" (麻黄, "Ephedra sinica") is used in traditional Chinese medicine. It has ephedrine and pseudoephedrine in it. Nagayoshi Nagai was the first person to take ephedrine from "Ephedra vulgaris" in 1885. The substance called soma, mentioned in old Hindu books such as the Rig Veda, may have been ephedra extract. 