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羚羊角 Lingyangjiao
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Chinese Name |
羚羊角 |
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Chinese Pinyin |
Lingyangjiao |
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English Name |
Antelope Hom |
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Latin Pharmaceutical Name |
Saigae Tataricae Cornu |
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Category |
Zoological substances |
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Origin |
The horn of Saiga tatarica Linnaeus.(Bovidae) |
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Production Regions |
Primarily produced in Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia. |
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Macroscopic Features |
Long cylindrical, slightly bowl-like and curled, 15~33cm long, off-white or yellowish-white, base is slightly black-gray. Young tender horn has ‘blood line’ or purple spots when examined under light, smooth and moist like jade, without cracks; old tender horns have thin longitudinal cracks. Except apex portion, the body has 10~16 raised ringed ridges, 2cm interval distance, when held in the hand, it fits comfortably in four fingers. Base cut surface is round, diameter is 3~4cm, inside has hard and heavy 'stuffed bone’, which is 1/2 or 1/3 portion of the whole horn, externally has raised longitudinal ridges and adheres exactly with the indented grooves of horn sheath, the connecting part is saw-teeth-like on the horizontal cut view. After removing the ‘stuffed bone’, the lower portion of the horn is hollow and the whole horn is translucent; when examined by light, the upper portion of the horn has one visible thin tunnel to the horn tip in the middle. Hard texture, faint odor, tasteless.
Ling yang jiao shaved slices: horizontal slices are sub-spherical thin pieces, off-white or yellowish-white, translucent, with visible exterior lines, slightly wavy, hollow in the middle. Pliable texture, not easily to pull and break. faint odor, tasteless.
Ling yang jiao longitudinal slices: thin pieces, off-white or yellowish-white, externally smooth, translucent, and lustrous; faint odor, tasteless. |
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Quality Requirements |
Superior medicinal material is tender, white, smooth and glossy, inside contains red streaks and lacks cracks. |
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Properties |
Salty; cold |
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Functions |
Calms the liver, extinguishes wind, clears the liver, brightens eyes, resolves blood stasis, resolves toxin. Apply to fright epilepsy with high fever, coma and convulsion, eclampsia, epilepsy, headache and dizziness, eye screen, heat toxin with skin eruption, sore and abscess toxin. |
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Processed Form |
Ling yang jiao powder: milky-white small powders, faint odor, tasteless. |
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Technical Terms |
‘Without impression patterns’: this refers to the point of ling yang jiao; on horn with a tender texture, reddish-trace of blood or purplish-black streaks can be seen, and no cracks area present.
‘Stuffed bone’: the inner base of the horn is hard and has a heavy texture.
‘Reaches the eyes of heaven’: this refers to the upper portion of ling yang jiao that is hollow in the center and not filled in. When held up to light; one thin hollow passage can be seen in the upper section that reaches all the way to the tip of horn.
‘Water wave pattern’: the base of ling yang jiao has 10~20 raised ringed ridges. When held in hand, it fits comfortably, so this phenomenon is also called “fits the hand”. |
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Remark |
Saiga (Saiga tatarica) is listed as "Critically endangered " in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Also, it is listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II. However, the wild specimen for commercial trade purposes is not allowed. |
| Link |
 Chinese Medicinal Formula Images Database
Chinese Medicine Specimen Database
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Permanent URL：https://sys01.lib.hkbu.edu.hk/cmed/mmid/detail.php?pid=B00381 |
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