Library

[Pythonia (Reticulated Python)]
Also known as Nan She (Southern Snake). Also called Mai Tou She (Head-Burying Snake). Large specimens have a girth of two to three *wei* (a traditional unit of measurement). Those that crawl on the ground without raising their heads are genuine. Those that raise their heads are not genuine. (From *Zhen Bai*)
The genuine gallbladder is narrow and long, entirely black, with extremely thin membranes. It tastes sweet yet bitter when licked. (From *You*) Take a piece the size of a millet grain and place it in clear water. It floats on the surface and moves in circles. (Do not use too much; if used excessively, it will sink and disperse.) Counterfeits made from pig or tiger gallbladders may also move in water but do so slowly.

[Gallbladder]
Taste: Bitter with a hint of sweetness. Nature: Cold. Toxicity: Slightly toxic. Properties: Light in qi, heavy in taste, Yin in nature, descending. Meridian Tropism: Hand Shaoyin Heart Channel, Foot Jueyin Liver Channel, Foot Taiyin Spleen Channel, Foot Yangming Stomach Channel. Actions: Brightens the eyes and removes nebulae, treats eye swelling and pain, cools blood, stops bloody dysentery and bleeding caused by parasites, kills parasites. Indications: Epigastric and abdominal pain, ulcers in the lower body, eliminates malnutrition syndromes (*Gan*), treats the five types of *Gan*.

[Meat]
Taste: Sweet. Nature: Warm. Toxicity: Slightly toxic. Actions: Expels miasma, relieves wind-pain in hands and feet, kills three types of parasites, removes dead flesh, treats skin wind-toxicity, leprosy, scabies, and other severe sores, treats pediatric *Gan* sores. When traveling to Lingnan, consuming python meat prevents invasion by miasmic toxins. (From *Quan*)

[Case Record] Lu Yuanqin suffered from leprosy, with only his nose remaining intact. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, he collected python for tribute. Someone suggested that snake meat could treat wind diseases, so he consumed it. After three to five days... [Text fragmentary].

[Usage] Python wine treats carbuncles, tendon spasms, bone pain, bi-syndrome numbness and itching, kills parasites, expels miasma, and treats leprosy, scabies, tinea, and severe sores. Take one jin (approx. 500g) of python meat, Qiang Huo (Notopterygium Rhizome)... [Text fragmentary].

[Carp]
This fish has a single row of scales along its flanks, numbering exactly thirty-six from head to tail regardless of size. Therefore, it is considered a substance of extreme Yin. When Yin reaches its extremity, Yang regenerates.
Taste: Sweet. Nature: Neutral. Actions: Boiled and eaten, it treats edema and leg fullness, directs water downward, and promotes urination.

[Prescription] For treating edema and distension: Take one jin of red-tailed carp, split open. Ensure no water or salt touches the flesh. Grind five qian (approx. 18.75g) of raw alum into powder, insert it into the abdominal cavity, wrap in fire paper... [Text fragmentary] to verify efficacy.

[Gallbladder]
Taste: Bitter. Nature: Cold. Minister Herb: Shu Qi (Sophiae Herba). Actions: Treats heat-induced redness and pain in the eyes, chaotic red vessels, external cataracts, blurred vision, night blindness, and dry painful eyes. Combined with grass carp gallbladder, it treats internal cataracts.

[Brain]
Treats deafness.

[Usage]
Taste: Salty. Nature: Neutral. For ear worms with continuous pus and blood discharge: Use three jin of carp brain, one brain specimen, and one set of intestines. Wash and chop finely. Add one portion of wu ma zi (Sesamum indicum seeds), stir-fried... [Text fragmentary], pound together into a paste, warm slightly over low fire, wrap in cloth, and apply to the ear. After about the time it takes to eat a meal, white worms will emerge. Once expelled, the condition heals. Avoid wind and cold.

[Discussion] Danxi stated that all fish in water never rest for an instant, thus they can stir up wind, because they belong to "Yin within Yang." Therefore, the *Su Wen* states that fish cause heat in the middle jiao.