414  Fanciful  Animal  Remedies.  rxm.jour.pharm. 
Aug.,  1891. 
rhinoceros,  imported  from  Signapore,  cost  $24  per  horn.  But  it  is  not  only  the 
quadrupeds  which  are  utilized  in  Chinese  pharmacy,  the  bimana  also  contribute 
their  quota  in  the  genus  homo. 
Dried  human  placenta  is  considered  tonic  in  consumption,  and  can  be 
bought  at  $2.50  each. 
Dried  human  urine  is  given  in  pulmonary  complaints,  and  is  believed  to 
possess  demulcent  properties.  Taken  internally  it  is  supposed  to  cure  debility 
and  as  a  lotion  is  good  for  weak  or  sore  eyes.  Eggs  boiled  in  boys'  urine  are 
also  considered  very  strengthening.  Dried  urine  seems  to  be  cheap,  since  it 
only  fetches  $7  a  picul.  Another  prescription  is  boys'  urine,  gypsum  and 
dew  mixed,  and  stirred  with  a  piece  of  mulberry  wood.  This  process  is  gone 
through  several  times.  The  resulting  deposit  is  put  on  paper,  with  lime  under- 
neath, and  dried  in  the  sun.  It  is  then  powdered,  put  into  a  small  pot  with 
water  and  evaporated  to  dryness.  It  is  given  in  phthisis,  gonorrhoea  and 
spermatorrhoea,  and  also  used  as  salt  with  rice  !  The  price  is  20  cents  a  catty 
or  pound. 
What  is  known  as  a  "  medicine  stone,"  is  a  stone  roasted  and  afterwards  put 
into  the  urine  of  a  child.  After  having  gone  through  the  process  seven 
times,  the  stone  is  dried  and  powdered,  and  the  powder  is  applied  to  ulcers  and 
opacities  of  the  cornea.    This  medicine  stone  costs  $3.20  per  catty  or  pound. 
The  skin  of  the  common  hedgehog  is  sold  for  50  cents  and  decocted  for 
pulmonary  complaints  and  made  into  pills  for  cutaneous  diseases. 
The  sea-horse  {Hippocampus),  used  as  a  stimulant,  fetches  $200  to  $500  the 
picul. 
The  lining  membrane  of  the  gizzard  of  the  common  fowl,  peeled  off  and 
dried,  is  sold  at  $38  to  $47  the  picul.  It  is  prescribed  in  dyspepsia, 
diarrhcea,  spermatorrhoea  and  urinary  disorders.  That  of  the  male  bird  is 
used  for  preparing  the  drug  for  female  patients  and  vice  versa. 
Snakes  and  reptiles  play  a  prominent  part  in  medicine  in  China.  Dried 
lizards  are  sold  at  10  cents  the  pair. 
Snake  skin  is  administered  for  small-pox  and  used  as  a  carminative.  The 
skins  cost  $1.20  each.  They  are  also  believed  to  relieve  itching  in  skin 
diseases  and  applied  to  piles  and  fistula.  Salted  scorpions  are  given  in  small- 
pox.   The  price  of  these  is  $45  per  picul. 
A  tincture  of  scorpions,  much  vaunted  for  its  miraculous  effects,  is  given  as 
a  diaphoretic  for  rheumatism,  paralysis  and  ague.  The  price  is  a  dollar  a 
pound  for  the  salted  scorpions.  Dried  toads  are  tonic  and  sudorific,  but  they 
can  be  had  as  cheap  as  2  cents  each. 
The  under  shell  of  the  land  turtle  being  considered  strengthening  and 
stimulant,  is  administered  in  decoction  to  the  old  and  weak.  Made  into  glue, 
it  is  given  as  a  tonic,  and  sells  at  $400  the  picul  of  1%  cwt. 
The  scales  of  the  amadillo  are  administered  for  cutaneous  diseases,  and  are 
worth  $75  to  $90  the  picul.  The  scales  of  the  ant-eater  are  used  in  rheuma- 
tism and  to  hasten  eruption  in  small-pox.  They  sell  at  a  dollar  and  a  half  a 
pound. 
Leeches  are  not  used  alive,  but  a  decoction,  either  in  water  or  spirit,  of  dried 
leeches  is  taken  as  a  purgative,  and  is  applied  outwardly  to  bruises,  etc. 
Reduced  to  powder  in  spirit  it  is  given  in  abdominal  tumors,  etc.  They 
fetch  $10  a  picul. 
