非石、非玉，自是一类。有红、白、黑色三种，亦有其纹如缠丝者。出西裔者佳。彼
土人以小者碾为好玩之物，大者碾为器。今古方入药，绝可用。此物西方甚重，故佛经多言
之。其马口吐出，既知谬言，不合编入。
白色，圆如覆大马杓，上有百十枝，每枝各槎牙分歧如鹿角，上有细纹起。以指撩之
，铮铮然有声。此石花也，多生海中石上，世方难得。家中自有一本，后又于大相国宫中见
一本，然其体甚脆，不禁触击。本条所注皆非是。
直是今之生蟹，更无异处，但有泥与粗石相着。凡用，须去其泥并粗石，止用蟹，磨
合他药点目中，须水飞。
《本经》不收，始自《开宝本草》添附。其色如古墙上土，盘结如楂梨大，中空，两
头巨细一等，无盖，不与石蟹同类。蟹则真蟹也，蛇非真蛇，今人用之绝少。
《书》曰∶三危既宅。三危，西裔之山也，厥贡惟球琳琅 。孔颖达以谓琅
石似玉。《新书》亦谓三苗，西戎。《西域记》云∶天竺国正出此物。陶隐居谓为本名大丹石。
既是大丹石，则《本经》岂可更言煮炼服之。又曰∶可化为丹。陶不合远引，非此琅 也。
《唐本》注云∶是琉璃之类。且琉璃火成之物，琅 又非火成。经曰∶生蜀郡平泽。安得同
类言之，其说愈远。且《佛经》所谓琉璃者，正如鬼谷珠之 ，乃火成之物也，今人绝不见
用。
It is neither stone nor jade, but constitutes a distinct category. There are three colors: red, white, and black; some also possess patterns resembling twisted silk. Those originating from the western frontier are of superior quality. Local inhabitants grind small pieces into objects for amusement or play, and large pieces into vessels. In both ancient and modern medical prescriptions, it is used in medicine with excellent efficacy. This substance is highly valued in the West, which is why it is frequently mentioned in Buddhist scriptures. The claim that it is excreted from a horse's mouth is clearly erroneous and should not be included in the text.
The white variety is round like an inverted large ladle, with one hundred to several dozen branches on top. Each branch forks like deer antlers, with fine raised striations. When flicked with a finger, it produces a ringing sound. This is "stone flower" (Shihua), which grows mostly on rocks in the sea and is rare in the world. I possessed one specimen at home, and later saw another in the Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng, but its texture is very brittle and cannot withstand touching or striking. The annotations provided in this entry are incorrect.
This is simply the living crab of today, with no other differences, except that it adheres to mud and coarse stones. For medicinal use, the mud and coarse stones must be removed, using only the crab body. It should be ground together with other medicines and applied to the eyes, requiring levigation (Shuifei).
Not recorded in *Shennong Bencao Jing* (Divine Farmer's Materia Medica), it was first added in *Kaibao Bencao* (Kaibao Materia Medica). Its color resembles soil from ancient walls, clumped together like jujube or pear-sized lumps, hollow inside, with uniform thickness at both ends and no lid. It does not belong to the same category as Stone Crab (Shixie). Stone Crab refers to actual crab fossils, whereas the "Snake" (She) is not a true snake, and its usage among people nowadays is extremely rare.
The *Book of Documents* states: "Sanwei has become inhabited." Sanwei is a mountain in the western frontier; its tribute consists of Qiu, Lin, and Langgan. Kong Yingda believed that Langgan is a stone resembling jade. The *New Book* also associates it with Sanmiao and the Western Rong tribes. *Record of the Western Regions* states: "The country of Tianzhu (India) is the primary source of this item." Tao Hongjing called it by its original name, "Dadan Shi" (Great Cinnabar Stone). If it were indeed Dadan Shi, how could *Shennong Bencao Jing* suggest boiling and refining it for consumption? It further claims it can be transformed into cinnabar pills. Tao Hongjing should not have cited distant references; this is not the Langgan discussed here. The commentary in *Tang Bencao* (Tang Materia Medica) states: "It is a type of liuli (glass/glaze)." Moreover, liuli is a product of firing, whereas Langgan is not fire-formed. The classic states it grows in Pingze, Shu Commandery. How can they be treated as similar categories? This explanation drifts further from the truth. Furthermore, what the Buddhist scriptures call "liuli" is exactly like the beads of Guigu, which are fire-formed substances, yet such items are rarely seen or used by people today.