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(When eaten with garlic, appetite decreases and internal heat is generated. When eaten with rock sugar, it induces pinworms (intestinal parasites). When eaten with mustard greens, it causes swelling diseases. When eaten with pig liver, chicken meat, pheasant meat, deer meat, or monkey meat, it generates carbuncles and sores. When eaten with Ophiopogon tuber, it harms the human body.)

[Flavor and Properties]
Sweet in flavor, warm in nature, non-toxic.

[Indications]
Boiled and eaten with Schisandra berry, it treats emaciation due to deficiency. It warms the middle jiao and directs rebellious qi downward, stopping dysentery and hemorrhoids (beneficial for summer-heat dysentery, not suitable for winter). Made into a soup, it treats poor appetite due to weak stomach function. It harmonizes the middle and nourishes the five zang organs. Made into a soup with wild rice stem, it treats fever caused by taking mineral drugs (danshi). Freshly crushed and applied externally, it treats indurated swellings and toxic sores that do not resolve. Crushed together with adzuki beans and applied externally, it treats erysipelas. Burned to ash and mixed with soy sauce, applied externally, it treats various chronic sores that have not healed for ten years. Fried in lard and taken orally, the ash treats intestinal abscesses. Boiled with adzuki beans and the juice taken orally, it reduces edema. Roasted to extract oil and applied to female genital gangrenous sores, it kills parasites and relieves pain. Infused with alum, burned, ground, and taken with water, it treats intestinal wind bloody dysentery. Infused with sulfur or Chinese gallnut, ground, and taken with wine, both treat lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Infused with tea leaves, roasted and taken, it treats diabetes mellitus (xiao ke). Infused with garlic, roasted, ground, and taken with water, it treats diaphragmatic qi stagnation. Infused with green vitriol, ground, and taken with water, it treats retrograde vomiting. Infused with salt crystals, burned, ground, and sprinkled on teeth, it treats toothache. Infused with Angelica sinensis root, burned, ground, and used to rub teeth, it darkens facial hair and stops bleeding. Infused with realgar, burned, and ground, it treats acute gangrenous sores. Infused with white salt, roasted, ground, and applied, it treats bone abscesses. Infused with Aconite lateral root, roasted until charred, and mixed with oil, applied to the head, it treats scalp sores and tinea capitis. Generally, all fish belong to fire, but carp alone belongs to earth, possessing the function of regulating the stomach and solidifying the intestines. However, excessive consumption can also stir up internal fire.

(It is the most potent purgative. Fresh ones are best. When used, remove the skin, heart, and membrane, roast until yellow-black, grind into a paste, then combine to form pills or powders. Some use only the kernel, some use the shell, some use the oil, some use raw, some bran-fried, some vinegar-boiled, some carbonized retaining their properties, and some ground fine and pressed between paper to remove the oil, known as Croton seed frost.)

[Flavor and Properties]
Pungent in flavor, warm in nature, toxic. It is also said that raw is warm and cooked is cold. It has great toxicity. Its nature is hot and its flavor is bitter; its qi is thin and its flavor is strong, heavy in weight and sinking, belonging to yin. It is also said that its nature is hot and pungent with great toxicity, floating, belonging to yang within yang. Raw usage is fierce, while cooked usage is mild; it can induce vomiting and purging, stop diarrhea and promote movement, ascend and descend.

[Indications]
Treats cold damage and warm malaria with alternating chills and fever. Breaks up masses and accumulations, hard stagnations, and retained fluids. Treats phlegm-rheum causing abdominal distension. Cleanses the five zang and six fu organs, opens blockages, promotes the flow of water and grain passages, removes foul flesh, eliminates ghost toxins and蛊 (poisonous substances), and kills parasites. Treats traumatic injuries with pus and blood obstruction. In men, it kills blister beetles and snake venom (from cobras and vipers). Treats ten types of edema and flaccidity/obstruction syndromes. Induces abortion. Unblocks and diffuses all diseases, drains stagnation, dispels wind and breaks blood stasis, expels pus and reduces toxic swelling. Kills intestinal worms. Treats scabies, leprosy, carbuncles, and swollen sores. Treats dysentery, convulsions, epilepsy, heart and abdominal pain, hernia, wind-induced deafness, throat bi, and toothache. Opens the orifices. Ancients said: Croton seed is a general who breaches gates and seizes doors; it must not be used lightly. If used aggressively, it has the merit of quelling chaos and seizing disease; if used mildly, it has the subtlety of soothing and regulating the middle. It is like Xiao He, Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, and Guan Ying—brave martial heroes—who, when appointed as chancellors, can assist in governing a peaceful era. Wang Haizang stated that it can unblock the intestines and also stop diarrhea; this reveals a secret of millennia.