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Heavy, settles deficiency-type rebellious Qi.
Bitter and cold. Enters the blood aspect of the Liver and Pericardium. Clears blood-heat. Treats vomiting, epistaxis, metrorrhagia, and leukorrhea. Fetal movement, difficult labor. Fanwei (rebellious stomach) and yige (dysphagia). (Zhang Zhongjing treated post-Shandhan sweating, vomiting, or purgation cases with heart-region fullness and hardness, belching, using Daihe Xuanfu Tang, taking advantage of its heaviness to settle deficiency rebellious Qi, and its red color to nourish Yin blood.) Asthma with wheezing sounds. (Inability to lie down for sleep, mixed with Tu Zhu powder and taken internally.) Promotes flesh growth in golden wounds. Quenched in red vinegar. Water-triturated. Dried ginger as guiding herb. Averse to Realgar and Aconite.

Heavy, brightens the eyes.
Sweet, sour, and cold. Benefits the Liver and brightens the eyes. Opens orifices, promotes urination. Produced in copper mines. Large pieces that are hollow inside are superior. (The world often produces fakes; they are also hollow with water, but must be carefully examined.)

Also known as Danfan (Blue Vitriol). Induces vomiting of wind-phlegm, astringes and stops cough/rebellious Qi.
Sour, astringent, acrid, and cold. Slightly toxic. Enters the Shaoyang Gallbladder meridian. Its nature is astringent yet can move upward. Induces vomiting of wind-heat phlegm-saliva. Disperses wind-liver and ministerial fire. Treats Houbi (sore throat). (Mixed with vinegar and gargled/swallowed, expels phlegm-saliva, immediate effect.) Cough and rebellious Qi. Spasm and epilepsy, metrorrhagia and strangury. Can kill parasites. Treats dental caries, sores, toxins, and genital erosion. Produced in copper mines. It is the essence/fluid of copper. (Therefore it enters the Liver and Gallbladder to treat wind-liver disorders.) Those that turn iron copper-colored when ground are genuine. Shape resembles Kongqing (Azurite). Duck-bill shape is the best grade. (Market people often fake it by rubbing Qingfan [Green Alum] with vinegar.) Averse to Guizhi (Cinnamon Twig), Baiwei (Cortex Dictamni), Xinyi (Magnolia Flower), Yuanhua (Genkwa Flower). (For pediatric bi-gan [nasal polyp/erosion], burn Danfan until smoke ceases, grind into powder, and apply externally, effective.)

Heavy, drying, removes cold accumulation.
Acrid and extremely hot. Toxic. Treats jianpi (hard masses) and gu leng (chronic cold), han shi feng bi (cold-damp wind-bi syndrome). (Su Gong said: Most excellent for attacking cold diseases. Li Shizhen said: Its nature and qi are similar to Pishi (Arsenic Stone); if not refined and taken, it kills humans.) There are white and gray varieties. Burning only causes disintegration, cannot remove its hardness. Those that do not freeze when placed in water are genuine. (This stone grows in mountains where there is no snow; it does not ice even when put in water.) Hostile to sheep blood.

Extremely drying, seizes phlegm.
Acrid, bitter, and sour. Extremely hot and highly toxic. Pishuang (Arsenic Trioxide) is especially fierce. (Raw form is called Pi Huang, refined form is called Pishuang.) Specifically capable of drying phlegm. Can be used as an emetic. Treats phlegm in the chest and diaphragm. Eliminates asthma and arrests malaria. (Modern practitioners often use only a few li, seeing swift effects, but many are harmed by it.) Externally applied to escharotic necrotic flesh. Kills parasites, withers hemorrhoids. Originates from Xinzhou. (Therefore also named Xinshi, and implicitly refers to "human speech" by hiding the character Xin.) Hengzhou origin is secondary. It is the mineral seed of Tin. (Therefore Tin is also toxic.) Averse to sheep blood, cold water, and Mung Bean.