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Hornis Ovis (Ram's Horn)
Taste: salty, bitter. Nature: warm, slightly cold. Non-toxic. Grows in various places nearby, with Shaanxi Hedong region being particularly abundant. Most varieties are white, only black ones are suitable for medicine. For medicinal use, it is best to select the horn of a blue-black male sheep to achieve efficacy. If a sheep has only one horn, and its body is white while its head is black, its meat contains poison and should be strictly avoided. Reckless consumption may lead to intestinal abscess. Wealthy families must be aware of this. When harvesting horns, avoid initial moisture exposure, as dampness induces toxicity harmful to humans. Saw off the tip of the horn and burn it to ash, ensuring the medicinal property is preserved; take with warm wine, preferably combined with Cuscutae Semen (Dodder Seed). It stops bleeding, harmonizes Ying (nutritive) Qi, calms the mind, and benefits Wei (defensive) Qi. It eliminates palpitations and fright, resolves Gu poison, arrests cold diarrhea, and kills scabies mites. It treats childhood fever-induced epilepsy, and postpartum residual pain in women. It resolves Qi stagnation in joints, dispels blindness (Qingmang) in both eyes. It expels mountain miasma and stream toxins, repels tigers, wild wolves, snakes, and venomous snakes. Mutton is sweet and very hot, specifically tonifying the physical form. It treats deficiency-cold of Zang-Fu organs due to overwork and injury, regulates yellowish emaciation due to wind pathogens. It opens the appetite and stops vomiting food, tonifies the Kidney without causing impotence. Pregnant women and those with sudden edema should not consume it; those with bone-steaming fever or just recovered from malaria should avoid it. If boiled with sauce, it may trigger leprosy and chronic diseases. (As the proverb says: "Sheep should not be cooked with sauce," hence the saying.) Additionally, pearls found in sheep fascia can cause epilepsy if eaten. Sheep hooves, though small in quantity, quickly replenish fluids. Edema patients who eat them will see no improvement. Sheep head is cool, treating labor-induced heat and bone-steaming, as well as wind-pathogen epidemics; contraindicated when chills are present, suitable when fever is present. Sheep fat is moistening, removing wandering wind pathogens and black spots, as well as Zhu disease and corpse-transmission; it softens gold and copper. Sheep kidney tonifies the Kidney, regulating depleted essence and failed Yang; extremely effective when combined with milk powder. (One sheep kidney, boiled and mixed with five qian of refined milk powder, taken on an empty stomach, is highly effective.) Sheep heart tonifies the Heart, treating pain due to sorrow and anger; do not eat those with holes. (Poisonous, can kill.) Sheep liver treats Liver wind-deficiency heat, causing coagulated tears and discharge; Sheep lung treats Lung-deficiency cough with phlegm, and frequent urination. Sheep shinbone strengthens teeth, treating loose and easily dislodged teeth, with a slight addition of Green Salt. (This is the Tooth-Strengthening Powder.) Sheep spine supports the waist and back, treating inability to turn; add a little minced garlic. Sheep tooth, burned to ash, dispels childhood epilepsy with alternating cold and heat; Sheep skin made into plaster, disperses deficiency-wind in adult feet and knees. Sheep gallbladder excels at resolving Gu poison, opening Qingmang and brightening eyes; Sheep stomach rapidly收敛s deficient sweating, tonifies deficiency and strengthens the Spleen. Fresh sheep blood, drunk raw, resolves Arsenic and Sulfur poisoning; Sheep hair, stir-fried with vinegar and wrapped around the foot, eliminates ankle pain and muscle spasms. Sheep marrow, boiled in wine, nourishes Yin-deficiency and benefits blood vessels; Sheep brain, taken with wine, causes confusion of the Mind-orifice and stroke. Sheep milk, squeezed fresh, moistens the Heart and Lungs, resolves thirst, and tonifies cold-deficiency; Sheep cheese and butter, benefit the Five Zang organs, promote the intestines and stomach, and treat mouth and tongue sores. Sheep dung, sun-dried and smoked, serves two purposes. Smoked for sores, hemorrhoids, and other heat-toxins; smoked in the nose to remove mid-body discomfort and abdominal stabbing pain. (Chen Jiamo) Note: The Ten Categories state: Tonification can eliminate weakness, such as Ginseng Radix and mutton. Ginseng tonifies Qi internally, while mutton tonifies the form externally. Although the name "tonification" is the same, the substance differs. Those suffering from emaciation should use them separately, not interchangeably.