Toxin-Resolving Pill

Three drugs at parity, which makes this the plainest statement of the chapter’s approach to a hard epidemic swelling: rhubarb to drain the fire, calcined oyster shell to soften what has gone hard, and stiff silkworm, the drug the tradition reaches for whenever a swelling is to be dispersed from the neck up. Honey pills dissolved in cold well water rather than a decoction, so the thing can be taken by someone who cannot manage a bowl. 惡證 — the malign form — marks this as the prescription for when 時毒疙瘩 has turned bad, and it sits next to Nuro-san in the Gangmok’s handling of the same complaint. The two together show the Gangmok preferring few drugs at full weight where the Immun and the Hoechun prefer many. **Stiff silkworm is a whole insect preparation; a hard, enlarging swelling of the neck in a febrile patient needs medical assessment.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.