This refers to the substance that has turned into water after being buried underground for a long time. Its flavor is pungent and its nature is cool.
It treats erysipelas in infants and various heat-toxins causing persistent alternating chills and fever, delirious speech, hair standing on end without cause, deficiency-type fullness, as well as epidemic febrile diseases; drinking it yields immediate effect. For chronic regurgitation (fanwei), drinking one zhong (a unit of measure) should result in the expulsion of parasites. Master Miao stated that after long burial, it absorbs the yin qi from the earth, so its nature must be cold. Being pungent and cold, it enters the Foot-Yangming Meridian, thus treating the aforementioned syndromes.
This refers to the umbilical cord at birth. While the fetus is in the mother's womb, the umbilical cord connects to the placenta, and the fetus breathes following the mother; therefore, the umbilical cord is the "life stem" of a person. (Because it is located between the Heart and Kidney, directly anteriorly aligning with Shenque [CV8] and posteriorly aligning with Mingmen [GV4], it is called "qi," meaning alignment or uniformity.) The umbilical stalk is where true qi gathers. Nowadays, people use it as food for infants to resolve all toxins from the womb and to prevent convulsions and smallpox/variolae, also taking advantage of its ability to supplement and tonify true yuan (primordial essence).
Attached Prescription: To preemptively resolve variolae toxins. On the thirteenth day after birth, cut the infant's own umbilical cord, burn it to ash, and administer mixed with breast milk. Alternatively, add a small amount of Cinnabar (Zhusha) to resolve fetal toxins.