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(From the Song Dynasty *Jiayou Bencao*)
[Correction] Transferred from the Mineral Section to this section.
[Collected Explanations] Zang Qi said: This is what is expelled in the urine of patients suffering from Stone Lin (a condition characterized by painful urination with stone-like particles), resembling small stones; it is collected for medicinal use. Li Shizhen said: This results from individuals indulging in sexual desires, causing essence and qi to stagnate and be simmered by Yin fire, thereby forming a hard substance. It is analogous to alkali scaling formed in boiling water or salt crystallizing from brine, and the same principle applies to the refining of Autumn Salt (Qiu Shi, processed human urine precipitate) from urine.
[Flavor and Properties] Salty, warm, non-toxic.
[Indications] Treats Stone Lin; when ground with water and taken orally, it facilitates the expulsion of crushed stones via urination (from *Rihua Zi Bencao*). Treats Yi disease (dysphagia) with vomiting of food, commonly known as "Se Fan Bing" (stiff-rice disease) (from *Jiayou Bencao*).

(From *Bencao Gangmu*)
[Collected Explanations] Li Shizhen said: Some people develop obsessions through intense focus, and pathological masses can condense into stone-like forms. Examples include Niu Huang (Calculus Bovis, cattle gallstone), Gou Bao (Gallus Domesticus Calculus, dog gallstone), and Da Da (likely referring to other animal calculi); these are diseases of various animals. Observing that meteorites fall as stones, Sand Lin and Stone Lin occur, and Buddhist practitioners form Sarira (relics) in their cranial fontanelles, all result from the condensation of essence and qi. Thus, *Gewu Lun* states: "Stone is the core of Qi." Books record phenomena such as Precious Gui transforming stone and old trees turning into fossils, which are changes in inanimate objects. Fish, snakes, shrimp, and crabs can also turn into fossils, representing changes in animate beings. Historical accounts mention a chaste woman who gazed at her husband from a mountain top and turned into stone; this was likely due to undivided concentration, leading to a state akin to inanimacy. The *History of Song* records stone masons falling into a stone cave; after three years of excavation, they were found alive but turned to stone upon exposure to air. This was likely due to inhaling stone Qi over a long period, causing them to transform with it. If living forms can petrify, then the petrification caused by stubborn obsessions and pathological masses follows the same logic. *Chengzi Yishu* states: Persians excavating ancient tombs found bodies where flesh had decayed completely, leaving only hearts hard as stone. Upon sawing open, landscapes resembling paintings were visible inside, with a woman leaning on a railing gazing afar. This was likely because the woman had an obsession with mountains and waters, leading to such fusion and condensation. Song Lian wrote: A monk practicing the Great Boat Samadhi method passed away; after cremation, his heart remained unburnt, resembling a Buddha statue, neither metal nor stone. Another person practicing Zen meditation died and was cremated; inside the heart, a Guanyin image was fully preserved. Medical texts state: A person died of illness, and upon cremation, a stone-like mass remained. These are all traces of pathological masses and stubborn obsessions condensing into stone, so they are recorded together.
[Indications] Dissolves hard masses and treats Yi Ge (dysphagia and regurgitation) (Li Shizhen).