Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Unani

Pearl-oyster shell, mother-of-pearl, of the Pteriidae (Bivalvia) family. The marine pearl oyster of warm coastal seas; the drug is its shell; native range: the pearl-oyster beds of the warm seas — the Gulf, the Gulf of Mannar and the Indian coasts. Globally recognized as muktasukti in Sanskrit, moti sipi in Hindi, sadaf sadiq in Arabic, and pearl-oyster shell, mother-of-pearl, nacre in English. The part used is the nacreous shell (calcined to bhasma or levigated). Broad, flattish, roughly scaled valves, dull and dark without, brilliantly iridescent within — the nacre shading pink, green and silver as it turns to the light; heavy, hard, and without taste or odour.

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.

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