（湿生）泻风邪经络肠胃热毒
蜗牛（专入经络大肠胃）。即带壳大蜒蚰是也。生下湿地。阴雨即出。性禀至阴。味咸
小毒。
故古方用此以治真阴亏损。腠理不密。致风中于经络。而见口眼 斜。筋脉挛拘。及风热脱
肛。痔疮肿痛。痈疽发背疔肿等症。皆能见效。（颂曰。入婴孩药最胜。）总以取其咸寒。解
其诸热之性耳。并解蜈蚣毒。取形尖小。缘桑木佳。（无壳名蜒蚰。）
（人）泻肠胃实热
人中黄（专入肠胃）。是用甘草末入于竹筒。塞孔。冬月置于粪缸之内。经春取出。悬
挂风处
。阴干取用。味甘性寒。书载功专入胃解毒。以其味甘故也。（甘入中。）其解五脏实热。以
其气寒故也。（寒胜热。）又治温疫诸毒斑狂。及发疮痘黑陷不起。以其臭与不正相类。故能
以毒攻毒也。然遇急难得。可取坑垢以代。
凡药冲淡和平。不寒不热。则非毒矣！即或秉阳之气为热。秉阴之气为寒。而性不甚过
烈。
亦非毒矣！至于阴寒之极。燥烈之甚。有失冲淡和平之气者。则皆为毒。然毒有可法制以疗
人病。则药虽毒。而不得以毒称。若至气味燥迫。并或纯阴无阳。强为制伏。不敢重投者。
则其为毒最大。而不可以妄用矣！如砒霜 砂巴豆凤仙子草乌射罔钩吻。是热毒之杀人者也
。水银铅粉木鳖 。是寒毒之杀人者也。蓖麻商陆野狼牙。是不寒不热。性非冲和。寓有辛
毒之气。而亦能以杀人者也。然绣窃谓医之治病。凡属毒物。固勿妄投。即其性非毒烈。而
审症不真。辨脉不实。则其为毒最大。而不可以救矣！况毒人之药。人所共知。人尚知禁。
若属非毒。视为有益。每不及防。故余窃见人病。常有朝服无毒之药。而夕见其即毙者。职
是故也。因附记以为妄用药剂一戒。
(Wet-born) Disperses Wind pathogenic factors, clears Heat-Toxin from the meridians and the intestines and stomach.
Snail (Specializes in entering the meridians, large intestine, and small intestine). This is the large slug with its shell. It is born in damp places. It emerges during rainy weather. Its nature is endowed with extreme Yin. Its taste is salty, with slight toxicity.
Therefore, ancient prescriptions use this to treat deficiency of True Yin, where the interstices (cou li) are not secure, causing Wind to invade the meridians, resulting in deviation of the mouth and eye, spasms and contracture of sinews and vessels, as well as prolapse of the rectum due to Wind-Heat, swelling and pain of hemorrhoids, carbuncles on the back, and sores and swellings. All these conditions can see efficacy. (Song said: It is most effective when used in medicines for infants.) Generally, it takes advantage of its salty-cold nature to resolve various Heat characteristics. It also resolves Centipede toxicity. One should select those that are sharp and small in shape, preferably those growing along mulberry trees. (Those without a shell are called slugs.)
(Human) Clears Excess Heat from the intestines and stomach.
Ren Zhong Huang (Human Manure Powder) (Specializes in entering the intestines and stomach). It is made by putting powder of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Gancao) into bamboo tubes, plugging the holes. In winter, it is placed inside a cesspit. After passing through spring, it is taken out and hung in a ventilated place. It is dried in the shade for use. Its taste is sweet, and its nature is cold. Books record that its function specializes in entering the Stomach to detoxify, because its taste is sweet. (Sweet enters the Middle Jiao.) It resolves Excess Heat of the five Zang organs because its qi is cold. (Cold overcomes Heat.) It also treats various toxic macules and mania caused by Warm Epidemic diseases, as well as pustular eruptions that turn black and fail to rise. Because its foul odor resembles improper Qi, it can use toxicity to attack toxicity. However, when it is difficult to obtain in emergencies, Keng Gou (Cesspit Sludge) can be used as a substitute.
Generally, if a medicine is dilute, mild, neither cold nor hot, it is not toxic! Even if it possesses Yang Qi manifesting as Heat, or Yin Qi manifesting as Cold, but its nature is not excessively fierce, it is also not toxic! As for extreme Yin-Cold or extreme Dryness-Fierce qualities that have lost the dilute and mild nature, all are considered toxic. However, if toxicity has methods to regulate it for treating human diseases, then although the medicine is toxic, it cannot be termed "poison" (in the sense of unusable lethal poison). If the aroma and flavor are dry and pressing, or purely Yin without Yang, forcibly suppressed and controlled, such that one dares not administer heavy doses, then its toxicity is greatest, and it must not be used recklessly! For example, Realgar (Pishuang), Nao Sha (Sal Ammoniac), Crotonis Fructus (Badou), Ricini Semen (Bimazi), Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata (Caowu), Sanguisorbae Herba (Shewang - *Note: Context implies toxic plant like Aconitum or similar, literal translation Shewang*), and Gelsemium Elegans (Gouwen) are heat-toxins that kill people. Hydrargyrum (Shuiyin), Plumbum Acetatum (Qianfen), and Momordicae Cochinchinensis Semen (Mubiezi) are cold-toxins that kill people. Ricini Semen (Bimazi), Phytolaccae Radix (Shanglu), and Potentilla chinensis (Yelangya) are neither cold nor hot, their nature is not mild and harmonious, containing pungent toxic Qi, yet they are also capable of killing people. However, I privately believe that when doctors treat diseases, substances classified as toxic should certainly not be administered recklessly. Even if their nature is not fiercely toxic, if the symptoms are not assessed accurately and the pulse is not differentiated correctly, then the harm caused is greatest, and they cannot save lives! Moreover, drugs known to be toxic to humans are widely known, and people still know to avoid them. If drugs considered non-toxic are viewed as beneficial, precautions are often lacking. Therefore, I have privately observed cases where patients took non-toxic medicines in the morning and died by evening; this is the reason. Thus, I append this record as a warning against the reckless use of medicinal preparations.