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(Twenty-five kinds, with twenty additional kinds)

Lion blood and lion feces
Pungent in flavor, warm in nature, toxic. Those that are slightly black in color are genuine; they are excellent at penetrating the meridians and collaterals. When used, do not use in large amounts. Shen Liangtu stated: Apply it to the fingernails; if a cooling sensation penetrates through the nail, it is genuine.
Another method: Place a amount the size of a millet seed into boiling water; if the water ceases to boil, it is genuine. Feng Yuan stated: The lion is the leader of all beasts, with a temperament most difficult to tame. A single roar causes all other beasts to retreat. *Erya* records that it eats tigers and leopards. Xiong Taigu stated: Its milk, when mixed into the milk of cattle, sheep, or horses, turns into water. People from the Western Regions capture them, extract their oil for tribute, which is used by palace maids to wash stains off clothes; it can also remove ink marks from paper. Scrape a small amount, place it between sheets of paper, and iron it; the ink mark will detach. I have tried using it myself; although the stains are removed, the clothes are easily damaged, and the paper becomes brittle. It is only suitable for temporary use. Although it is a local specialty, it is rarely used in medical prescriptions. In recent times, physicians have used it to treat dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing). This is likely because dysphagia is often caused by stagnation and blood stasis, and its use aims to dispel phlegm. Trials have shown frequent efficacy, leading physicians to compete in regarding it as a rare wonder drug. However, its nature is extremely fierce and potent, capable of causing abortion; thus, pregnant women must avoid it. Elephant oil can also remove stains and dispel phlegm, but it cannot remove ink marks. *Chunyuan Wenjian Lu* records: Wendushtan is a major country in the Western Regions, reachable by traveling southwest from Yarkant in one hundred days. To the west of this country lies a vast marsh spanning thousands of li. Within the marsh stands a mountain range exceeding a thousand li in circumference, with ten thousand peaks towering high into the clouds; some say it is the highest mountain in the human world, named Qianjelimadandalas Mountain. Lions are produced there. On clear nights of the new moon, they frequently carry their cubs back and forth in the mountains. They have large heads and curly hair, tails shaped like brooms, yellow bodies with black stripes like tiger skins, measuring six or seven chi in length. They often climb to the summit, gaze at the moon, drool, roar, jump, and fiercely leap as if to swallow the moon. Some fly out eight, nine, or even more than ten li before falling to death in valleys. The locals consider keeping lions a privilege of the wealthy. Whenever autumn arrives, the king sends people to capture lions. They make columns of fine iron, as large as jars, densely arranged in layers to enclose them, housing the lions within. They feed them beef. At times, the lions roar like thunder, shaking the entire city and disturbing both humans and livestock. The method of capture is as follows: Select the most skilled gunners, dig pits in the ground, and hide inside. When a lion carrying a cub approaches, take it by surprise, fire the cannon to kill it, and then seize the cub. If the first shot misses, the explosion throws rocks and splits the mountain, resulting in the death of the hunters. Zhang Yi possessed this oil, stating that when boiled, it could be drawn into threads one or two chi long without breaking, whereas oils from other animals could not achieve this. Chen Haishu once saw lion oil in the mansion of Prince Jian in Beijing: it was hard as stone, the size of a chicken egg, white and clean, and lovely. Zhu Paishan's *Ganyuan Xiaoshi* recorded: Lion oil is white and greasy like pig fat, with a faint odor and flavor. It promotes urination. For anyone suffering from urinary retention, even if accompanied by abdominal distension, penile pain, and critical condition, taking three or four candareens or half a fen with wine or plain water induces immediate urination. Once, a beggar suffered from urinary retention due to summer-heat. He experienced attacks once a month, lasting two or three days, during which his penis felt as if being cut, unbearable in pain. He attempted suicide by hanging multiple times. Someone gave him a small amount of lion oil, which relieved the obstruction within moments. No remedy has acted so quickly. Why is its function not recorded in materia medica? Was it unknown at the time? Nevertheless, for those with deficiency-type constipation, it should be used with caution. My commentary: Lion oil is extremely fierce in nature. Internal use should never be done alone, nor in large doses. In the third month of the first year of Jiaqing (1796), my friend Mr. Shao obtained a small amount of lion oil. Intending to take it for illness, he did not. A villager begged it from him and sold it in the market for a high price. The buyer took an amount the size of half a millet seed and died at midnight. Fearing punishment, the villager also committed suicide by drowning. External use is generally safe, but internal use requires extreme caution because human intestines and stomachs are too weak to withstand such harsh and purgative attacks.

Eliminates heat accumulation; treats chest obstruction (ge syndrome), and blockage of stool and urine. *Jiusheng Kuhai* records: Take two or three candareens of lion oil with wine for spontaneous relief.