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(Venomous Herbs) Capable of breaking down hard accumulations and extracting toxins.

Fengxianzi (Phyllanthus urinaria seeds, specifically entering the Kidney meridian). Also known as Jixingzi. It is what the common people call the seed of the Golden Phoenix flower. Its nature is extremely urgent and fierce. The taste is bitter, and the temperature is warm. It possesses slight toxicity.

For patients suffering from stubborn phlegm and accumulated masses, dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), or a sensation of a foreign body in the throat, taking it yields immediate results. Because its qi and flavor are urgent and pressing, it can vigorously search out and treat conditions in bone acupoints and hard areas. Therefore, Shengjin Dan uses it to treat mania and dementia, taking advantage of its ability to urgently lead arsenic to be vomited and purged; when used with arsenic to cauterize toothache, the pain drops immediately; when mixed with garlic juice and applied to epigastric masses, the masses dissipate. (To treat inability to swallow food, soak Fengxian flower seeds in wine for three nights, dry them, grind into powder, make pills the size of mung beans, take eight pills each time, washed down with warm wine. Do not use in large amounts. This is also Jixingzi.) Adding Moschus (She Xiang) and Ferulae Resina (Ewei) makes it even more effective. Putting the seeds into boiling hard meat causes it to rot. However, this plant itself does not suffer from insect damage, and bees and butterflies do not approach it. Moreover, eating too much will pierce the human throat, suggesting it is not without toxicity. When using it, one must carefully examine and measure.

(Trees) Dispelling deep cold in the zang-fu organs and unblocking constipation due to cold accumulation.

Badou (Crotonis Fructus, specifically entering the Stomach and Intestine meridians). Pungent, hot, and highly toxic. According to texts, raw form is fierce, cooked form is mild; it can ascend and descend; it can move and stop; it opens orifices and disseminates stagnation. It removes deep cold from the zang-fu organs and is regarded as a general who seizes passes and夺命 (snatches life). Since it can disseminate stagnation and open orifices, why do some books say it can ascend and stop? These few words inevitably cause slight doubt. Upon investigation, what the book calls "descending" refers to cases where deep cold and chronic cold accumulate in the zang organs, penetrating deeply into barren places. One wishes to remove it but cannot easily do so, yet leaving it is not an option. Without pungent, hot, and rapid agents seizing the pass and entering directly to sweep away yin pathogens and eliminate the old to generate the new, how could such thorough cleansing occur? This is what the book means by "can descend and move." As for those with long-term loose stools who, after taking ascending and astringent medicines, experience worsened diarrhea with a slippery and deep pulse, this is clearly caused by long-term injury to the Spleen and Stomach and congealed cold qi. The method should be to use hot purgatives; then the cold leaves, the diarrhea stops, and the pulse rises. This is what is meant by "can ascend and stop." (Li Shizhen said: A woman over sixty years old had loose stools for five years. Pain occurred whenever she consumed raw, cold, greasy, or meat foods. After taking ascending and astringent medicines, her diarrhea worsened, and her pulse was deep and slippery. This was due to long-term Spleen-Stomach injury with accumulated cold and stagnation. The method should be to purge with heat. Using fifty wax-coated Badou pills, taken over one or two days, resulted in no bowel movement but cure. Since then, I have used this to treat diarrhea and dysentery, curing nearly a hundred people.) Medical principles are profound and changes endless; it depends on the practitioner to extend and analogize, not being bound by books, so that medication is not deviant. Just like Dahuang (Rhei Radix et Rhizoma), which is also a product for opening blockage and unblocking bowels. However, it is most suitable only for fu organ diseases characterized by heat. If Dahuang is used to unblock and promote urination/stool for zang organ diseases characterized by cold, is this not self-contradictory? (Therefore, Zhang Zhongjing treated Shanghan [Cold Damage] transmitting to the interior with much heat, mostly using Dahuang; Li Dongyuan treated Wuji [Five Accumulations] belonging to zang organs, mostly using Badou, administered together with Dahuang, which surprisingly did not cause diarrhea in patients.) Thus it is said: Misuse carries the risk of pushing down walls and overturning battlements; skillful use holds the wonder of quelling chaos and regulating the middle. Wang Haogu said: The world uses the pungent-hot nature of Badou to treat alcohol-induced diseases and diaphragmatic qi stagnation, to open up stagnant heat in the stomach and intestines. (Badou inherits the fierce energy of fire.) Although the stagnation is cleared, blood is lost along with it, causing yin deficiency and damage. For cold binding in the chest and diaphragm, or pediatric gan accumulation, using it may not kill but will endanger. Why do mediocre physicians fear Dahuang but not Badou? Only because Badou is hot in nature and the dose is small. Try rubbing a little on the skin; blisters appear in an instant. How much more so when entering the stomach and intestines—will there not be risks of ulceration, burning, and rotting? Even in emergency cases, if one must use it... (Wang Ang said: For Chanhou Ji Bi [Strangling Throat Acute Obstruction], delaying treatment leads to death. Use Jiedu Wan: Xionghuang (Realgar) 1 liang, Yujin (Curcumae Radix) 1 qian, Badou 14 grains peeled and oil-extracted. Make pills. Take 5 fen each time, swallowed with saliva. Xionghuang breaks condensed qi, Yujin breaks evil qi, Badou expels thick phlegm. However, this is a harsh agent and should not be used lightly. Alternatively, dip a paper wick in Badou oil, ignite it, and prick the throat; or crush Badou, wrap in cotton, and insert into either nostril according to symptoms. Vomiting out evil phlegm and purple blood brings relief.) Press out the oil, take a small amount of Bashuang (Badou Frost) for medicinal use. (Li Shizhen said: Tight and small Badou are female; those with edges and pointed at both ends are male. Male ones are more severe. Used appropriately, both have efficacy. Not removing the membrane injures the stomach; not removing the heart induces vomiting.) Whether using the shell, kernel, or oil; raw or fried; vinegar-boiled and charred to retain nature; ground and oil-extracted, named Bashuang. Yuanhua (Genkwa Flos) is its guiding herb. It is inhibited by Dahuang, Huanglian (Coptidis Rhizoma), and cold water. (In case of poisoning, these can resolve it. Black bean or mung bean juice is also good.) Fire is beneficial for it.