Formulas · External Application 外用 · Samin (三因)

Snail Powder

Gwau-san

한글 와우산 (제창) · Pinyin Wo Niu San

蝸牛散

The Bogam carries two formulas called 蝸牛散. The 後陰門 formula, from the Deukhyo, is one snail with a little borneol and musk left to dissolve into a liquid and painted on piles, and keeps the bare id gwau-san; this 瘰癧 leaf is from the Samin, is a burnt powder worked up with pig bone marrow and plastered on, and takes the chapter tail. 三因 is romanized Samin, following the corpus. 猪骨髓, pig bone marrow, has no herb id — 牛骨髓 and 猪脊髓 are registered but not this — and is left out of the ingredient list; see the report. The appended 一方 is a second method from the Deukhyo within the same leaf and its clove is entered with that noted. Amounts are counts and 少許, so no gram figures are entered.

Composition 構成

Wau Wo Niu
蝸牛 와우 · Snail

—
Chief 君

不拘多少 — any amount; threaded on bamboo skewers, dried on a tile and burnt with the nature preserved
Gyeongbun Qing Fen
輕粉 경분 · Calomel (toxic)

—
Deputy 臣

少許 — a little; calomel, mercurial, severely toxic
Jeonghyang Ding Xiang
丁香 정향 · Clove

—
Assistant 佐

丁香七粒 — seven cloves, in the appended 一方 variant only, with seven snail bodies

Total g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 3 ingredients measured by count or used as a vehicle, shown as —.

Received this formula from your practitioner? Amounts shown here are classical reference values — granule and prepared products differ. Always follow your prescribed dosage and directions.

Actions 效能

Treats scrofula, whether it has broken open or not
Snails threaded on bamboo skewers, dried on a tile and burnt with their nature preserved
Mixed with calomel and pig bone marrow, spread on a paper patch and plastered on the sore

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

瘰癧, 潰與未潰皆可 — scrofula, broken open or not

Biomedical correlates

Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis — a historical topical dressing

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治瘰癧, 潰與未潰皆可. 蝸牛不拘多少, 以竹簽貫穿, 瓦上晒乾, 燒存性爲末, 入輕粉少許, 取猪骨髓調勻, 攤紙花貼瘡上. 《三因》 ○一方, 蝸牛肉七箇, 丁香七粒, 用如上法. 《得效》

Translation

Treats scrofula, whether it has broken open or not. Snails, any amount: thread them on bamboo skewers, dry them in the sun on a tile, burn them with their nature preserved and powder them. Put in a little calomel, take pig bone marrow and work it even, spread it on a paper patch and plaster it on the sore. — Samin 三因 (Donguibogam · Jechang) ○Another formula: seven snail bodies and seven cloves, used by the method above. — Seui Deukhyobang 得效

Clinical commentary 臨床

Snails threaded on bamboo skewers, sun-dried on a roof tile and charred short of ash, then powdered, mixed with a little calomel and enough pig bone marrow to make it spread, and plastered on a paper patch over the node. The Deukhyo's variant in the same leaf cuts it to seven snail bodies and seven cloves by the same method. The marrow is the vehicle and the snail is the idea. Snail is a cool, slippery, mucilaginous drug used throughout the Bogam on hot swellings, and burning it leaves calcium carbonate from the shell, which is drying rather than cooling — the preparation works against the reasoning behind the choice. The one claim worth noting is 潰與未潰皆可, that it suits the node broken or unbroken, which is how the 糝貼藥 section sorts its dusting powders. **Contains calomel, a mercury compound absorbed through broken skin, and animal marrow applied to an open sore, which carries an infection risk. This must not be prepared.** 瘰癧 is tuberculous lymphadenitis; no dressing closes a tuberculous sinus, and it persists until the mycobacterium itself is treated. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.