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[Moisture-Generated Species] Clears Heat, Promotes Urination, and Obstructs Qi

Frog (Its medicinal action specifically enters the Bladder and Intestines meridians). Like snails and mussels, it lives in water. Although its taste is sweet, its nature is cold. Therefore, it can clear heat, promote urination, and detoxify. For example, to treat abdominal distension caused by "Shui Gu" (water蛊/ascites), use two dried frogs, seven dried mole crickets stir-fried with butter, and half an ounce of bitter gourd, all stir-fried until dry, then ground into powder. Take three qian with wine on an empty stomach for recovery. For generalized edema, take one or two frogs, remove the skin, roast until cooked, and eat them to cure. For toxic dysentery causing inability to eat ("Jin Kou"), take one water frog, crush it together with its entrails, bake on a tile until dry, add 5 fen of musk, form into a cake, and apply to the umbilicus to restore patency. For epidemic facial redness and neck swelling due to plague toxins, crush Golden Thread herb (Lysimachia christinae) to extract juice, mix with water, and take once on an empty stomach for efficacy. However, although the meat is cold, the bones are good at jumping, thus possessing heat properties; although its nature is active, its qi tends to accumulate, thus causing obstruction. Eating frog meat can cause Lin syndrome (dysuria); excessive consumption can lead to urinary retention, soreness, and pain below the umbilicus. Treatment requires grinding Plantago seed (Cheqianzi) and taking it with water, or using burning wine or other methods to move qi to resolve the toxicity. (For those with internal heat, Plantago seed is necessary; for those with internal cold, burning wine is necessary to promote flow.) As for pregnant women, there are particular taboos regarding its consumption. (It may cause the child's premature death or short lifespan.) This must not be ignored.

[Turtle and Soft-shelled Turtle Species] Cools Liver Blood Heat

Soft-shelled Turtle Meat (Its medicinal action specifically enters the Liver meridian). There are only females, no males; they pair with snakes and large soft-shelled turtles. Their forms vary greatly. Hence, books state that soft-shelled turtles with three legs or red feet should not be eaten. Those with only one eye should not be eaten. Those whose head and limbs cannot retract should not be eaten. Those with sunken eyes should not be eaten. Those with "Wang" (King), "Bu" characters, or snake-like patterns under the belly should not be eaten. Those living on mountains, named "Dry Turtles," should not be eaten. Those with bellies red as blood, named "Vermilion Turtles," should not be eaten. These are poisonous and can kill; this is the argument against eating such turtles. It is also said that eating turtle with eggs and amaranth causes people to develop "Turtle Parasitism"; eating it with pork, rabbit, or duck damages the body; eating it with mustard seeds causes malignant sores; eating it with mint can kill. These refer to the harms caused by consuming it with other flavors. Regarding cold consumption (cold wasting-thirst) or chronic wasting diseases, eating turtle can trigger water-dampness diseases. It must be boiled with scallions, Sichuan pepper, and ginger, and a small amount of crushed Turtle Shell (Biejia) should be added. This shows that turtle nature is cold, so it requires the hot nature of ginger and pepper to restrain it; turtle meat is cloying and accumulative, so it requires the dispersing property of Turtle Shell as an assistant. (There is cartilage under the neck of the turtle resembling a turtle shape; eating it causes water disease, and it must be removed.) However, it is only suitable for women who inherently harbor blood-heat syndromes presenting as blood masses (Xue Jia) or uterine bleeding (Xue Lou), as well as various conditions like malaria and dysentery. If the Middle Qi is deficient, claiming it can tonify Middle Qi and benefit energy, even if stated in the *Ben Cao Jing Jiu* (Old Materia Medica), is superficial talk and not credible.