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Treatment for ulcerative sores between the toes: Take goose palm skin (thick skin shed from the sole of the foot), burn it to ash while preserving its medicinal properties, grind into fine powder, and apply externally. (Applying tung oil is also effective.)

The *Gui Yi Ke* states: Yang abscesses arising on the dorsum or sole of the foot will cause death if not incised within twenty days. Incision can be performed around the tenth day. If the discharge of red-white pus and blood is scant, and the sore is itchy with a reddish-black color, the prognosis is fatal. "Fu" (dorsum of foot) is also written as "Fu". This area involves swelling and pain due to toxic accumulation, also known as "Foot Back Erysipelas" (Zu Fa Bei). It belongs to the intersection of the Foot Jueyin Liver Meridian and the Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian, often caused by damp-heat pathogens sinking downward due to deficiency. It is advisable to administer Huo Ming Yin (Life-Saving Decoction) augmented with Papaya (Mugua), Cinnamon Twig (Rougui), and Achyranthes Root (Niuxi), combined with Garlic-Separated Moxibustion. Subsequently, follow with Shi Quan Da Bu Tang (Ten Significant Tonifying Decoction) and Tuo Li Wen Zhong Tang (Support Interior and Warm Middle Decoction). Thick pus indicates a treatable condition; clear pus with purple depression indicates a fatal prognosis. One patient suffered from this on the dorsum of the foot, presenting with redness, swelling, and pain. After more than thirty moxa cones of garlic-separated moxibustion, the pain ceased. Four doses of Huo Ming Yin led to suppuration and rupture, followed by recovery using interior-supporting and detoxifying herbs. Another patient had a dark-colored lesion on the dorsum of the foot without swelling or pain, accompanied by restlessness and extreme thirst. The radial pulse was large and choppy, indicating exhaustion of essence and qi, which is untreatable; the patient subsequently died.

Zhao Zigu's mother, Lady Liu, aged sixty, had a sore on the dorsum of her left foot extending down to the big toe and up to the lateral malleolus and ankle bone. It recurred several times a year, lasting for weeks or months each time. Severe itching occurred at dusk, leading to bleeding like a spring upon scratching, with unbearable groaning pain that subsided by midnight but returned at dawn. Each change of medication exacerbated the sore. This persisted for over twenty years. In late winter of the Jiachen year of Chunxi, when Mr. Zhao served as Vice Director of the Department of the Treasury, his mother's illness suddenly worsened one night. They wept in despair. Exhausted, he fell asleep and dreamed of four divine monks emerging silently from a room. A long couch was nearby, and Zhao Zigu sat beside them, sighing. One monk asked the reason, and he answered truthfully. The monk said, "You may take Niu Huang Jin Hu Dan." Another monk added, "Cinnabar is also suitable." Upon waking, he was startled, tried taking half a pill forcibly, and after a while experienced severe pain, causing his family to weep and regret. Soon, he expelled several sheng (a unit of volume) of iron-stone-like hard matter. That night, the sore only itched slightly without pain or bleeding. It scabbed over in a few days and healed completely thereafter. The suggestion regarding cinnabar was never tested again. Mr. Zhao drew portraits of the monks as seen in the dream and recorded the event. Jin Hu Dan originates from the *He Ji Ju Fang*, originally used for stroke with phlegm-turbidity obstructing the orifices. Ingredients such as Calculus Bovis (Niu Huang), Borneolum Syntheticum (Long Nao), Calomel (Ni Fen), and Gold Leaf (Jin Bo) are generally unsuitable for the elderly. Yet, it achieved miraculous results here. It is hypothesized that heat-toxin accumulated in the zang-fu organs and manifested in the skin, becoming deeply rooted over years, difficult to cleanse. Thus, cold-natured herbs were borrowed to attack the pathogen, deviating from standard protocols. The dream of divine monks is likely attributed to filial piety moving heaven.

**Niu Huang Jin Hu Dan (Calculus Bovis and Golden Tiger Pill)**
Calculus Bovis (Niu Huang) [ground, 2.5 liang], Borneolum Syntheticum (Long Nao) [raw ground, 5 liang], Calomel (Ni Fen) [ground, 25 liang], Realgar (Xiong Huang) [ground and water-classified, 150 liang], Alum (Bai Fan) [calcined, 25 liang], Gold Leaf (Jin Bo) [80 pieces, used as coating], Aconitum Lateral Preparatum (Tian Xiong) [prepared, peeled, navel removed, ground, 12.5 liang], Himalayan Beech Pollen (Tian Zhu Huang) [ground, 25 liang], Pinellia Rhizome (Tian Nan Xing) [washed in decoction, dried, 25 liang ground to powder, mixed with bovine bile to form cakes, dried in shade; if no bovine bile, steam in fermented wine for seven days, then grind].
Grind into fine powder, mix with refined honey, divide into ten pills per 1.5 liang, coat with gold leaf. Take one pill per dose, dissolved in fresh well water. Contraindicated in pregnancy.

**Niuxi San (Achyranthes Powder)**
Treats "Spider Back" of the foot (a type of malignant foot sore).
Dung Beetle Larva (Ji Si Zi), Deceptive Death Larva (Zha Si Zi), Two-Faced Turtle (Liang Mian Gui), Red Achyranthes Root (Chi Niuxi), Purple Gold Bark (Zijin Pi), Mountain Centipede (Shan Wu Gong), Campsis Root (Lingxiao Gen), Molting Vine (Tuo Ke Teng), Red Kudzu Root (Chi Ge Gen), Tian Bu Gua Root, Back Son Centipede (Bei Zi Wu Gong).
Decoct in water, mix with wine, and take orally.

**External Application Formula**
Fagopyrum Dibotrys (Tian Qiao Mai), Deer Onion Root (Lu Cong Gen), Purple Gold Bark (Zijin Pi), Mountain Melon (Shan Bu Gua), Campsis Root (Lingxiao Gen), Veratrum Seed (Lilu Zi), Pinellia Rhizome (Tian Nan Xing), Red Kudzu Root (Chi Ge Gen), Dung Beetle Larva (Ji Si Zi), Bitter Mint (Ku Bo He), Tian Bu Gua, Back Son Centipede (Bei Zi Wu Gong).
Chop and crush thoroughly, add some vinegar, warm, and apply externally.

**Another Formula:** Chop and crush Rush Rhizome (Di Deng Xin), bind to the affected area.

**Another Formula:** Chop and crush Chicken Tongue Grass (Jin Ji She), bind to the affected area.

**Another Formula:** Chop and crush Stinking Vine (Chou Teng) and Tian Bu Gua Root, stir-fry with wine, and apply.

**Another Formula:** Take Zi Die Su, ingest with Lei Wine (a type of strong wine), and apply the dregs to the lesion.

**Bai Cao Gao (Hundred Herbs Ointment)**
Treats malignant sores on the dorsum of the foot, spreading like tung oil, and all types of malignant sores. Regardless of dryness or moisture, pain or itch, chronic duration, or failure of other medicines.
Take 20-30 grains of sheep dung. Place on a tile, burn with charcoal around the edges until smoke stops and fire extinguishes. Remove with chopsticks, place on the ground, cover with a bowl to preserve medicinal property. Sift into white ash, grind finely, sieve through gauze to remove sand and soil. Mix with sesame oil for external application. Add Calomel (Qing Fen) if itchy; add Musk (She Xiang) if painful, for efficacy.