Witnessed by: TCM
Flying-squirrel droppings (Trogopterus xanthipes), of the Sciuridae (Mammalia) family. A nocturnal gliding squirrel of northern Chinese cliffs; the drug is the droppings that gather below its roost; native range: the rocky cliff country of Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu, where the squirrel dens in caves and crevices and leaves its droppings in heaps below. Globally recognized as wu ling zhi (五靈脂) in Chinese, and flying-squirrel droppings, trogopterus dung in English. The part used is the dried droppings — loose grains or cemented lumps. Dark brown to black grains, oblong and blunt-ended, or irregular lumps cemented into a resinous mass with a shining fracture; the odour rank and pungent, and the surface faintly oily.
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.
FLYING-SQUIRREL DROPPINGS
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- flying-squirrel droppings
- Scientific name
- Trogopterus xanthipes Milne-Edwards, 1867
- Family
- Sciuridae (Mammalia)
Form
- Part used
- the dried droppings — loose grains or cemented lumps
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter (苦) · salty (咸) · sweet (甘)
Temperature
- TCM
- warm (溫)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- dispels blood stasis and alleviates pain — its first office; and transforms stasis to stop bleeding, which is why it serves where blood is both stuck and leaking
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pregnancy; blood deficiency without stasis; and classically antagonistic to ginseng — ren shen wei wu ling zhi, one of the nineteen antagonisms, so the two are not combined
- Toxicity
- low at the usual dose; it is rank and may nauseate a weak stomach
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