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The *Baoyuan Fang* (Preservation of Vital Qi Formula) records: The mucus of the river snail (*Pila virgata*) can eliminate edema. Take an arbitrary amount of river snails, rinse them with water, add one *zhan* (a traditional unit of volume) of sesame oil into the water, and the snails will naturally excrete their mucus. Collect the mucus, dry it in the sun, and grind it into powder. Each dose should not exceed three *qian* (approx. 1.125 grams). Mix with wine and take orally. The water-dampness will be discharged through urination, and the stagnant qi will be expelled through defecation; the swelling will then subside. Subsequently, administer herbs to nourish the spleen and stomach for complete recovery.

Those with thick purple shells and round openings are called clams (*Clam*). In the relevant entry of *Bencao Gangmu* (Compendium of Materia Medica), it is recorded that clam meat is cold in nature. Gao Wu, in his *Douzhen Zhengzong* (Orthodox Manual on Smallpox and Measles), claimed that clam meat could induce eruption and treat smallpox toxin entering the eyes by using its juice as eye drops; this assertion is erroneous. It is unknown that the cold nature of clam meat serves precisely to detoxify heat-inducing medicines, utilizing its antagonistic relationship with cinnabar and realgar (Dan Shi) for therapeutic effect.

Treating carbuncles, furuncles, malignant sores, and smallpox toxin: The *Yinian Jin* (One-Pinch Gold) formula, recorded in *Ji Ting* (Collected Auditory Records/Empirical Formulas), is most effective for the initial stage of all kinds of carbuncles, ulcers, and toxic swellings. It also treats malignant sores, throat wind, snake bites, dog bites, and pediatric smallpox toxin. The prescription consists of: *Ruxiang* (Frankincense Resin, 1 qian), *Xionghuang* (Realgar, 3 qian), *Xuejie* (Dragon's Blood, 0.5 qian); these three ingredients need not be processed. *Moyao* (Myrrh, 1 qian), *Mingfan* (Alum, 1 qian), *Zhusha* (Cinnabar, 3 qian), *Hongxin* (Red Arsenic, 6 qian), *Shexiang* (Musk, 6 fen), *Chansu* (Toad Venom, 1 qian), clam meat (2 qian), *Wugong* (Centipede, 3 pieces), processed *Jiapian* (Pangolin Scales, 3 qian), *Jiangcan* (Bombyx Batryticatus, 1 qian), *Chuanwu* (Aconitum carmichaelii lateral root, 1 qian), *Yazao* (Gleditsia sinensis fruit, 4 qian). Grind all ingredients into a fine powder and store in a porcelain jar. Adults take 1.5 li (approx. 0.056 grams), children take 7 li (approx. 0.026 grams); those with strong constitutions may take 2 li. Mash three *cun* (approx. 10 cm) of green onion white, mix with the medicine to form pills, and swallow with good wine to induce sweating; upon subsequent doses, sweating is not required.

Clams live in sand and mud and are abundant in rivers, lakes, streams, and ravines. There are various species, including yellow clams, black clams, white clams, golden-mouth clams, and jade-mouth clams. Yellow clams have thin shells and plump meat; black clams have thick shells and thin meat. Additionally, the Wuyong area in Panyu produces earless clams, which are exceptionally sweet and delicious. All bivalves capable of reproduction, but yellow clams transform into moths to scatter eggs, while white clams rely on fog to form their bodies, which is another peculiarity. Hainan dialect states: "Clams in sand are yellow; clams in mud are black." When clams grow old, their flesh transforms into small moths, causing the clam to die; the small moths then scatter eggs on the water surface to become new clams. Whenever there is heavy fog from the south wind, many white clams appear; this does not occur with north wind fog. This is because white clams originate from fog. Fog tastes salty, and saltiness is the fundamental basis for the generation of white clams. At birth, white clams resemble fog, descending from the sky, appearing and disappearing; people mistake them for fog. Fishermen know this and believe it is heaven raining clam seeds. Once the clam seeds mature, they are plump in warm weather and lean in cold weather. In the waters of Jiangzhong in Jiaotang and Shawan districts, they accumulate densely to depths of tens or hundreds of zhang (approx. 33 meters), known as clam ponds, which yield significant profits. The *Jijie* (Collective Explanation) section under Clams in *Bencao Gangmu* is still insufficiently detailed. Furthermore, while the shell, meat, and clam water are listed under their therapeutic indications, "Clan La" (Dried Clam Paste) is absent. Therefore, folk sayings are collected here to supplement this gap.
Clan La resolves gu poison and treats intolerance to local climate and water (according to folk sayings).