Wiseman’s Chinese Medical Database

shí huī / 石灰 / 石灰 / lime

Latin pharmacognostic name: Calx

Alternate English names:

Alternate Chinese names:

Origin: Mineral

Use: medicinal

Category: External medicine agents / Toxin-attacking, worm-killing, and itch-relieving agents

Properties: Acrid, bitter, and astringent; warm; toxic.

Channel entry: liver, spleen, lung, bladder, pericardium, liver channels.*

Indications:

• Resolves toxin and heals sores; dries dampness and kills worms: Burns and scalds; welling- and flat-abscesses; cinnabar toxin (dān dú); ruptured scrofula and phlegm nodes; malign sores; scab (jiè) and lichen (xiǎn); damp sores; corns, warts, and moles.
• Stanches bleeding: Bleeding from external injury.

  Dosage & Method:

  Topical: Grind and apply mixed. Oral: Use in pills, powders, or drink in water solution.

  Product Description:

  Lime, made by calcining limestone, takes the form of powder compacted into small lumps with the appearance of earth or stone. Distinction is made between 生石灰, unslaked lime, and 熟石灰, slaked lime, the latter differing from the former by having been exposed to water or air. Unslaked lime, which includes 风化石灰 and shuǐ shí huī (Calx Hydrata, hydrated lime)hydrated lime 水石灰, is white or gray, and opaque and comes in irregular lumps. Slaked lime takes form of white or gray powder with occasional lumps. Unslaked lime is chiefly composed of CaO (calcium oxide), and after slaking, it becomes Ca(OH)₂ (calcium hydroxide). After further long exposure to air, it becomes old lime 陈石灰, which contains both Ca(OH)₂ and CaCO₃ (calcium carbonate). Any form of lime usually also contains magnesium, iron, and aluminum.

  Product Area:

  Most parts of China.

  Etymology:

  The name shí hú 石灰, literally ""stone ash,"" reflects the fact that this is (lime)stone that has been calcined.