Witnessed by: TCM
Clam shell (Meretrix meretrix), of the Veneridae (Bivalvia) family. A thick-shelled burrowing bivalve of the sandy tidal flat, its two valves closing tight; native range: the sandy intertidal flats of the Chinese, Korean and Japanese coasts, and south through southeast Asia. Globally recognized as wen ge (文蛤), ge qiao (蛤壳), hai ge ke (海蛤壳) in Chinese, clam shell, hard-clam shell in English, and Concha Meretricis in Latin. The part used is the shell, crushed — raw, or calcined. A solid triangular-oval valve, smooth and glossy, cream to fawn, scribbled over with brown zigzag lines, chalk-white and porcellanous within; heavy and stony, breaking with a chalky fracture. Faintly salty, no smell.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
CLAM SHELL
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- clam shell
- Scientific name
- Meretrix meretrix (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Family
- Veneridae (Bivalvia)
Form
- Part used
- the shell, crushed — raw, or calcined
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter (苦) · salty (咸)
Temperature
- TCM
- cold (寒)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Kidney · Stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears heat and transforms phlegm, softens hardness and dissipates nodules, controls acidity and relieves pain, and promotes urination and disperses swelling
Cautions
- Contraindications
- spleen and stomach deficiency cold; cough from wind-cold or from dryness without phlegm-heat
- Toxicity
- non-toxic; a mineral-heavy shell, and a long course sits badly on a weak digestion
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