Library

*Records of Shaoyin*: It is recorded that deer are produced in the deep mountains of Xiaofeng County. When the local people calculate the time when the does give birth, they often wait by the cave side at midnight. The doe must nurse her fawns at *Wugeng* (the fifth watch, 3–5 a.m.), and after nursing, she leaves the cave and returns only at dusk, nursing the fawns only once a day. The milk consumed by the fawns condenses into twelve small cakes within the abdomen, with one cake digested every two hours (*Shichen*). The locals wait for the doe to leave the cave, then take the suckling fawn home, cut open its abdomen to extract these "cakes," and sell them as precious medicinal materials in distant places for a high price. These "cakes" are as large as chess pieces from Yunnan, slightly yellow in color, turning old yellow when dry, with the strongest fishy odor. Consuming them greatly strengthens Yang Qi and boosts the fire of the Gate of Vitality (*Mingmen*), making them most suitable for the elderly and frail.

*Banzhong San* (Spotted Dragon Powder) is used to treat weakness and deficiency consumptive diseases, promote the formation of pustule fluid in smallpox, and treat female *Ganxue Lao* (Dry Blood Consumption).

In the "Deer" section of *Bencao Gangmu* (Compendium of Materia Medica), the mention of bone refers to the whole body; there is no record of the use of the tibia bone. Currently, physicians use *Banzhong San*, which exclusively utilizes the deer tibia. Therefore, this prescription is recorded here to supplement this content.

*Jiusheng Kuhai* (Saving Life from the Suffering Sea) records the use of *Banzhong San* to generate flesh and close wounds: Take deer tibia bones, wrap them securely in wet paper, and roast them in ash fire until they become yellow and brittle enough to be ground. If they turn scorched black, the processing has gone too far, and they should not be used. This substance contains strong toxicity but generates flesh very rapidly.

The medicinal name is *Shenhong*. It is extremely abundant in areas where groups of wild monkeys gather in deep mountains. Seekers often find it among the grass; it appears as purple-black clumps mixed with fine grass fragments, said to be the dried menstrual blood of mother monkeys. Those from Guangxi are of good quality. It treats *Ganxue Lao* (Dry Blood Consumption).

Shi Changxing had a method to induce sweating without taking oral medicine: Refine and sublimate the meconium of a newborn male infant, add Borneolum Syntheticum (Bingpian, 冰片) and Moschus (Shexiang, 麝香), and store in a sealed porcelain jar. For those needing to sweat, apply a drop mixed with breast milk to the left eye for males or the right eye for females; lying down will immediately induce sweating. This is not recorded in *Bencao Gangmu*. *Xiaoshi Yun* states: The feces of newborn dogs and pigs can also be refined and used, not necessarily limited to human infants.

[He] is the character for badger; found in mountains and marshes everywhere, living in burrows and eating insects and mice. Liu Zhongxu said: There are especially many along the river dikes of Beizhili. They live in burrows on the banks, posing a major threat to dike defenses, so river guards often capture them. Another theory says that when hibernating, badgers must eat bees to survive the winter without hunger. Someone dug open a badger's hibernation den in early winter,剖开了 its belly, and found bees still in its stomach. The skin inside the badger's abdomen was stung by bees, causing swelling several inches thick, perhaps allowing it to go without food. This theory cannot be deeply trusted. Residents of the dikes obtained badger fat and sold it to coal plants as fuel for floor lamps; other oils could not be used, as lamps made with other oils were easily extinguished by underground winds, whereas lamps made with badger oil could withstand the underground wind.

When added to plasters, it extracts dampness with miraculous effect. Miao Zhongchun's *Guang Biji* (Extended Notes) records: It is used in the plaster of the Zhao residence.

Treats white ringworm on the scalp. *Jiyan* (Collected Experiences) records: Rub with badger oil over fire three or four times, and it will heal. For long-standing cases, hair may not regrow; drink decoction prepared from Fructus Lycii (Gouqizi, 枸杞子).

Hemorrhoids. Liu Yixuan said: Apply badger oil to all internal and external hemorrhoids, and immediate effect will be seen.

Coughing up blood, chest obstruction, feeling as if insects are crawling. A good prescription without taking medicine: Mix wild boar badger oil with wine and ingest orally; it may cause purgation, vomiting, or resolve spontaneously.