Transform the Toxin Elixir

The most violent member of the draining group, and the method leaf pairs it with Oridaehwang-tang: in the young and robust, give Oridaehwang-tang or Hwadok-dan to get one or two free movements of the bowel. That is the whole therapeutic idea — the toxin of a new sore is to be carried out through the gut before it settles — and it stands opposite the chapter's 托裏 and 內托 arm, which supplements a depleted patient so the swelling is thrust outward instead. Against that background the shape of this prescription is clear enough: aconite and croton do the work, frankincense and myrrh are there for the sore itself, and the pumice is a mineral bulk, burnt red and quenched in vinegar seven times. **Contains wild aconite, whose diterpene alkaloids are cardiotoxic and have caused fatal arrhythmia at small doses, and croton seed, a violent purgative and a severe irritant that is also a tumour promoter. Five to seven pills of the two together, taken in wine, is a dangerous dose by any reading. This must not be prepared or taken.** A new boil or carbuncle is treated today by drainage when it points, and by antibiotics when it spreads; there is no version of this formula that is worth recovering. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.