Witnessed by: TCM
Cold-water stone, of the carbonate/sulfate (identity varies) family. A pale, translucent to white crystalline stone, cleaving into bright plates or splintering into fibrous masses; native range: sedimentary and evaporite beds; the northern trade supplies calcite, the southern chiefly gypsum, and glauberite is drawn from salt-lake deposits. Globally recognized as 寒水石 han shui shi, 凝水石 ning shui shi in Chinese, and cold-water stone, calcitum in English. The part used is the crushed stone, raw or calcined. Colourless to white or greyish, glassy to pearly on the cleavage, cool and smooth to the touch, tasteless or faintly saline; light for a stone.
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.
COLD-WATER STONE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- cold-water stone
- Family
- carbonate/sulfate (identity varies)
Form
- Part used
- the crushed stone, raw or calcined
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- pungent · salty
Temperature
- TCM
- cold
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Heart · Stomach · Kidney
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears heat and drains fire, relieves irritability and thirst; calcined and applied, it dries damp and heals burns and sores
Cautions
- Contraindications
- cold from deficiency of the spleen and stomach; pregnancy; the absence of real heat
- Toxicity
- an inert mineral; harsh by its coldness rather than poisonous — it injures the stomach yang if given without heat to clear
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