Medicinals
líng yáng jiǎo / 羚羊角 / 羚羊角 / antelope horn
Latin pharmacognostic name: Saigae Tataricae Cornu
Alternate English names:
Alternate Chinese names: 羚羊角屑 líng yáng jiǎo xiè
Origin: Animal
Use: medicinal
Category: Liver-calming wind-extinguishing agents / Wind-extinguishing tetany-relieving agents
Properties: Salty; cold.
Channel entry: liver and heart channels.
Indications:
- Calms the liver and extinguishes wind: Fright wind with convulsions; epilepsy.
- Calms the liver and subdues yang: Dizziness due to ascendant hyperactivity of liver yáng.
- Clears the liver and brightens the eyes: Red eyes or headache from liver fire flaming upward.
- Clears heat and resolves toxin: Warm heat disease with
vigorous heat effusion and clouded spirit; macular eruptions due to heat toxin. - Additional uses: Líng yáng jiǎo is used to treat cough and panting due to lung heat. In recent years, it has been used as an injection for pneumonia and measles in children, and for other febrile disease.
Dosage & Method:
Oral: Wet-grind to obtain juice (9–15g); decoct (1.5–3g); use in pills and powders.
Warning:
Contraindicated in spleen vacuity patterns of chronic fright wind.
Product Description:
The complete horn is funnel-shaped and slightly curved, 25–40 cm long, about 3 cm in diameter at the base. It is a pale smoky yellow, darker at the base. There are 10–20 protuberant rings (fewer in younger horns) evenly distributed over the length of the horn but for the tip. Young horn is translucent and has blood streaks and black speckles. Older horn has no black speckles and has longitudinal cracks. The transverse section at the base shows a bony plug that forms the core of a third to a half of the length of the horn. The plug has a serrate edge that meshes tightly with the bone. When it is removed, the horn is left partly hollow, and there is a hole that further penetrates to the end of the horn—a unique feature of antelope horn.
Quality:
Young, pale, shiny horn without cracks is best.
Product Area:
Xīnjiāng.