苍耳子草,夏秋之交,阴雨后梗中霉烂生虫,取就熏炉上烘干,藏小竹筒内,随身携带
或藏锡瓶,勿令出气。)患疔毒者,以虫研细末,置治疔膏药上贴之,一宿疔即拔出而愈。(
贴时须先以针微挑疔头出水。)余在台州,仆周锦种之盈畦,取虫救人,屡着神效。比在杭
郡学舍旁,苍耳草虫甚多,以疗疔毒,无不获效。同邑友人郑拙言学博凤锵,携至开化,亦
救治数人,彼地无苍耳草,书来索种以传。又青蒿虫,治小儿惊风最灵,余孙荣霖,曾赖此
得生。此二方皆见《本草纲目》,而世罕知其效,特志之。(青蒿虫亦在梗中焙干研末,和
灯心灰,汤调送下。)
(炳章)按∶苍耳虫,不独治疔疮有特效,凡阳痈红肿已成脓,以此虫一条,放于疮顶,外用
清凉膏盖贴八小时,毒即咬通,余常于八九月采取,用麻油浸藏备用,可代刀针,真奇效也。
杭城水浊,人家皆接天泉水用之,日久往往生孑孓虫,《以斋杂着》谓自天明至日末入
接者为阳,日没至鸡鸣前接者为阴,阴阳水,各自为盎,孤阴不生,独阳不长,自无孑孓虫之患
。泾县胡子晖《子贯附言》,亦云午前之雨属阳,午后之雨属阴,独阳之水,取养金鱼子,
(炳章)按∶天泉水生孑孓,有因积蓄日久,或水分不洁而生为多,凡久晴初雨之水,必有屋
上积尘冲下,应接出缸外,待后落之清净水,接置缸中,水缸底浊,常用吸筒吸出,使水清洁,自无此弊。
Cang'erzi grass (Xanthium strumarium), during the transition between summer and autumn, after rainy weather, develops worms inside its moldy stems. These worms are taken out, dried on a warming stove, stored in small bamboo tubes for carrying, or kept in tin bottles to prevent gas leakage. For patients suffering from Ding poison (a type of severe skin infection/abscess), the worm is ground into fine powder, applied onto plasters specifically used for treating Ding sores, and patched over the lesion. After one night, the sore is extracted and healed. (Before application, the head of the sore should be gently pricked with a needle to drain pus.) While I was in Taizhou, my servant Zhou Jin cultivated Cang'erzi grass across entire fields; using the worms to save people yielded miraculous effects repeatedly. Later, near the schoolhouse in Hangzhou prefecture, there were many Cang'erzi worms; they were effective in treating Ding sores without exception. My fellow townsman, Scholar Zheng Zhuoyan (courtesy name Fengqiang), took them to Kaihua and also saved several people there. Since that area lacked Cang'erzi grass, he wrote to request seeds for propagation. Additionally, Qinghao worms (worms from Artemisia annua) are most efficacious in treating pediatric convulsions (Jingfeng). My grandson Ronglin once relied on this method to survive. Both prescriptions are recorded in *Bencao Gangmu* (Compendium of Materia Medica), yet their efficacy is rarely known by the world today; thus, I record them here. (Qinghao worms are also dried in the stem, ground into powder, mixed with ash from Juncus effusus (Dengxin Cao), and administered with decoction.)
(Bingzhang) Note: Cang'erzi worms not only have special effects on treating Ding sores but are also effective for any Yang abscess (Yang Yong) that has become red, swollen, and purulent. Placing one such worm on the top of the wound, covered externally with a cooling plaster for eight hours, allows the toxin to be "bitten through." I usually collect these in August and September, preserve them in sesame oil for future use, as they can replace surgical knives and needles; truly a miraculous effect.
The water in Hangzhou city is turbid, so households all draw spring water from the sky (rainwater). Over time, it often breeds mosquito larvae (Zijue worms). *Yi Zhai Za Zhuo* states that water collected from dawn until sunset is "Yang" water, while that collected from sunset until before rooster crow is "Yin" water. If Yin and Yang waters are kept in separate vessels, since "isolated Yin does not generate, and isolated Yang does not grow," there will naturally be no problem with mosquito larvae. Hu Zihui of Jingxian County, in *Zi Guan Fu Yan*, also stated that rain before noon belongs to Yang, and rain after noon belongs to Yin. Water of "isolated Yang" can be used to fertilize goldfish eggs. (Bingzhang) Note: Sky water breeding mosquito larvae is mostly due to long-term accumulation or unclean water quality. Rainwater immediately following a long dry spell inevitably washes down accumulated dust from roofs; this initial runoff should be discarded outside the vat. Only after the subsequent clean rain falls should it be collected in the vat. The turbid sediment at the bottom of the water vat should be regularly suctioned out using a siphon tube to keep the water clean, thereby eliminating this drawback.