Formulas · External Application 外用 · Bonsa (本事)

Elm Fruit Powder (Sores Formula)

Mui-san

한글 무이산 · Pinyin Wu Yi San

蕪荑散

A different prescription from the 蕪荑散 of 得效 registered as mui-san-chung, which is an anthelmintic drink of elm fruit, omphalia and dried lacquer for roundworm pain. The two share a name and the chief drug only. The id of the earlier entry already carries a chapter tail, so the bare id is free; this leaf is nonetheless given the chapter tail, since neither prescription is the canonical bearer of the name. 白蕪荑 is entered under the headword 蕪荑.

Composition 構成

Mui Wu Yi
蕪荑 무이 · Elm Fruit Paste

40 g
Chief 君

白蕪荑 — 1 nyang
Billang Bing Lang
檳榔 빈랑 · Areca Seed

20 g
Deputy 臣

5 don
Osuyu Wu Zhu Yu
吳茱萸 오수유 · Evodia

20 g
Deputy 臣

5 don
Yuhwang Liu Huang
硫黃 유황 · Sulphur

8 g
Assistant 佐

2 don
Jeoji Zhu Zhi
猪脂 저지 · Lard

—
Envoy 使

lard, or sesame oil, to work the powder into
Cheongyu Qing You
淸油 청유 · Clear Sesame Oil

—
Envoy 使

香油 — sesame oil, as the alternative base

Total g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 2 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 scabies whether new or long-standing, and treats tinea as well
Powdered and worked up with lard or sesame oil, then rubbed on

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

疥無問新久 — scabies, new or long-standing, it makes no difference
癬 — tinea

Biomedical correlates

Scabies — historical topical
Tinea corporis — historical topical

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治疥無問新久, 亦治癬. 白蕪荑一兩, 檳榔ㆍ吳茱萸各五錢, 硫黃二錢. 右爲末, 猪脂或香油調擦之. 《本事》

Translation

Treats scabies, new or long-standing it makes no difference, and treats tinea as well. White elm fruit 1 nyang, areca nut and evodia 5 don each, sulphur 2 don. Powder them, work the powder up with lard or with sesame oil and rub it on. — Bonsa 本事 (Donguibogam · Jechang)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Four drugs and not a mineral poison among them, which makes this the cleanest rub in the section. Elm fruit, areca nut and evodia are all worm-killing drugs in the old pharmacology, and here they are turned outward against the mite rather than swallowed against an intestinal worm — the same reasoning, applied to the skin. Sulphur completes it, and lard or sesame oil carries it. 疥無問新久 — new or long-standing, it makes no difference — is a confident claim, and for once not an idle one. 疥 is scabies, and sulphur worked into lard is the historically effective treatment; evodia and areca both have some documented activity against arthropods. This is the formula in the section that comes closest to doing what it says. It is still not the treatment. Scabies is diagnosed and cured now with topical permethrin or oral ivermectin, and the whole household must be treated at once or the mite returns. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.