肉
甘温无毒。
《本经》主风痹不仁筋急,五脏腹中积聚,寒热羸瘦,头疡白秃,面上 。
发明 熊禀雄毅之性,故其脂可开风痹不仁等疾。可服,可摩,但不可作灯,烟气熏目
,使人不能远视。《本经》所主不出风痹筋急之用。风为阳邪,熊为阳兽,其性温润,能通
行经络,开通血气也。熊筋亦能壮筋强力,与虎骨之搜风壮骨无异。熊肉振羸,其气有余,
痫病患食之终身不愈。
苦寒无毒。试法取少许研滴水中,挂下如线直至水底不散者为真。
发明 熊胆苦入心,寒胜热,手少阴、足厥阴药也。其性洁不染尘,故能清心平肝。为
时气热盛变为黄胆之要药。又能杀虫,明目,除翳瘴疳痔,虫牙,蛔痛,小儿惊痫螈 ,以
竹沥化豆大许服之,去心中涎。痔疮赤肿水化点之即消。凡实热之证用之咸宜,苟涉虚家便
当严禁。
即羚羊角
咸寒无毒。镑碎胸前煨热令脆,研如粉,不则黏人肠胃。
《本经》主明目,益气起阴,去恶血注下,辟蛊毒恶鬼,不祥魇寐。
发明 羚羊属木,入厥足阴,伐肝最捷。目暗翳障,而羚羊角能平之。痘疮正面稠密不
能起发,而羚羊能分之。小儿惊痫,妇人子痫,大人中风搐搦及筋寒历节痛,而羚羊角能舒
之。惊骇不宁,狂越魇寐,而羚羊角能安之。恶鬼不祥,而羚羊角能辟之。恶血注下蛊毒疝
痛,疮肿 ,产后血气,而羚羊角能散之。湿热留滞,阳气不振,阴气衰痿,而羚羊角能
起之。烦惫气逆,噎塞不通,郁为寒热,而羚羊角能降之。详《本经》所主皆取散厥阴血结
耳。愚按诸角皆能入肝散血解毒,而犀角为之首推,以其专食百草之毒,兼走阳明,力能祛
之外出也。故痘疮之血热毒盛者,为之必需。若痘疮之毒并在气分,而正面稠密不能起发者
,又须羚羊角以分解其势,使恶血流于他处,此非犀角之所能也。人但知羚羊角能消目翳,
定惊痫而散痘疮恶血之功,人所共昧。羚羊角治青盲目暗与羚羊角不殊,而辟除邪魅蛊毒亦
相仿佛,惜乎从未之闻。惟消乳癖《丹方》用之。白羯羊角亦能消乳癖,而方家每用琉璃角
灯磁盘刮取薄屑,置胸中候脆,杵细,酒服方寸匙屡效,专取宿腐之味,以消陈积之垢也。
其鹿角刮屑善消虚人乳肿,未溃即消,已溃即敛,即《本经》主漏下恶血之治。龙角治神魂
不宁,功用与龙齿略同。《千金方》中有齿角并用者。牛角腮专主闭血、血崩,牛之一身惟
此无用。而《本经》特为采录,《千金》尤为崩漏要药,可见天地间无弃物也。
Bear Meat
Sweet, warm, non-toxic.
The *Shennong Bencao Jing* (Divine Farmer's Materia Medica) states it treats wind-bi syndrome causing numbness and lack of sensation, tendon urgency, accumulations in the five zang organs and abdomen, alternating cold and heat leading to emaciation, head sores and alopecia capitis, and facial scars.
[Invention] Bear possesses a masculine and resolute nature; thus, its fat can treat diseases such as wind-bi with numbness. It can be taken internally or applied externally for massage, but must not be used as lamp oil, as the smoke from burning irritates the eyes, causing inability to see distant objects clearly. The indications in the *Shennong Bencao Jing* do not extend beyond treating wind-bi and tendon urgency. Wind is a yang pathogen, and bear is a yang animal; its nature is moist and warm, capable of unblocking meridians and circulating qi and blood. Bear tendons also strengthen muscles and bones, having no difference from Tiger Bone (Rex Tigris Os) in searching out wind and strengthening bones. Bear meat revitalizes the emaciated, but its qi is excessive; patients with epilepsy who consume it will find their disease incurable for life.
Bear Gallbladder
Bitter, cold, non-toxic. Verification method: Grind a small amount and drop it into water; if it sinks like a thread to the bottom without dispersing, it is authentic.
[Invention] Bitter flavor enters the Heart, and cold nature overcomes heat; it is a herb for the Hand-Shaoyin (Heart) and Foot-Jueyin (Liver) meridians. Its nature is clean and does not stain with dust, thus it can clear Heart fire and calm Liver yang. It is a key herb for treating epidemic febrile diseases where intense heat transforms into jaundice. It can also kill parasites, brighten the eyes, remove leukoma, trachoma, malnutrition-related conditions, hemorrhoids, dental caries caused by worms, biliary colic, pediatric convulsions, and spasms. Dissolve a bean-sized amount in Bamboo Sap (Zhuli) and take orally to remove phlegm-fluid from the heart. For red and swollen hemorrhoids, apply diluted solution topically for immediate resolution. It is suitable for all excess-heat syndromes; however, it is strictly contraindicated for deficiency constitutions.
Sheep Horn (specifically Antelope Horn)
Salty, cold, non-toxic. Slice thinly, roast over the chest until hot and brittle, then grind into powder; otherwise, it adheres to the stomach and intestines.
The *Shennong Bencao Jing* states it brightens the eyes, benefits qi and raises yin, removes stagnant bad blood flowing downward, wards off gu poison, evil spirits, and inauspicious nightmares.
[Invention] Antelope belongs to Wood and enters the Foot-Jueyin (Liver) meridian, making it most swift in subduing Liver pathology. For dim vision and visual obstructions, Antelope Horn (Saiga Tataricae Cornu) can resolve them. For severe smallpox lesions that are dense on the face and fail to erupt, Antelope Horn can disperse them. For pediatric convulsions, postpartum eclampsia, adult stroke with spasms, and joint pain due to cold-tendons, Antelope Horn can relieve them. For fright, restlessness, mania, and nightmares, Antelope Horn can pacify them. For evil spirits and inauspicious signs, Antelope Horn can expel them. For stagnant bad blood, gu poison, hernia pain, sores and swellings, and postpartum blood-qiu disorders, Antelope Horn can dissipate them. For damp-heat stagnation, depressed yang qi, and atrophied yin qi, Antelope Horn can uplift them. For vexation, fatigue, rebellious qi, dysphagia, and depression transforming into alternating cold and heat, Antelope Horn can descend them. A detailed analysis of the *Shennong Bencao Jing* indications reveals they all aim to scatter Jueyin blood stasis. I observe that all horns enter the Liver to scatter blood and detoxify, but Rhinoceros Horn (Rhinocerotis Cornu) is foremost because it specifically consumes toxins of hundred herbs and travels through the Yangming meridian, forcefully expelling toxins outward. Thus, for smallpox with intense blood-heat and toxin, it is essential. If smallpox toxin resides in the Qi level and lesions are dense on the face failing to erupt, Antelope Horn is required to disperse the momentum, diverting bad blood elsewhere, which Rhinoceros Horn cannot do. People only know Antelope Horn's merit in eliminating leukoma, stabilizing convulsions, and scattering smallpox bad blood, remaining ignorant of other functions. Treating congenital blindness and dim vision with Antelope Horn is similar to Rhinoceros Horn, and expelling evil charms and gu poison is also comparable, yet this has rarely been heard of. Only for dissipating breast masses, *Danfang* uses it. White Ram Horn also dissipates breast masses; practitioners often scrape thin slices from glazed horn or lamp disk bases, hold them in the chest until brittle, grind finely, and take one cun-chi spoonful with wine, yielding frequent efficacy. This specifically utilizes the taste of old decay to eliminate accumulated filth. Deer Horn (Cervi Cornu) scrapings effectively dissipate breast swelling in deficient persons, resolving before suppuration and closing after suppuration, corresponding to the *Shennong Bencao Jing*'s treatment of leukorrhea with bad blood. Dragon Horn treats unsettled soul and spirit, with functions slightly similar to Dragon Teeth (Draconis Massa Os). The *Qianjin Fang* records cases using teeth and horns together. Cow Horn Sclera (Bovis Cornea) specifically treats blood obstruction and metrorrhagia; among the whole cow, only this part is considered useless. Yet the *Shennong Bencao Jing* specially records it, and the *Qianjin Fang* regards it as a key herb for metrorrhagia and metrostaxis, demonstrating that there is no discarded matter in the world.