Introduction of Wu Ling Zhi:Trogopterus Dung or Faeces Trogopterorum.

TCM Herbalism:Medicinals and Classifications. ✵The article gives records of the herb Trogopterus Dung, its English name, Latin name, property and flavor, its source two animal species, ①.Trogopterus Xanthipes Milne-Edwards., ②.Pteromys volans L., with a detailed introduction to the features of these two animals species, the growth characteristics, and ecological environment, habits and characteristics of these two animals species, the features of the herb Trogopterus Dung, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guide.

Faeces Trogopterorum(Trogopterus Dung).

Faeces Trogopterorum Pin Yin Name: Wǔ Línɡ Zhī.
 English Name: Trogopterus Dung.
 Latin Name: Faeces Trogopterorum.
 Property and flavor: warm, bitter, sweet.

 Brief introduction: The herb Faeces Trogopterorum is the dried feces of Trogopterus xanthipes Milne-Edwards, used to relieve pain by eliminating blood stasis mainly for the treatment of gastric and abdominal pain, and dysmenorrhea. The herb is commonly known as Faeces Trogopterorum, Trogopterus Dung, Wǔ Línɡ Zhī.

 Source: Herbal classic book defined the herb Faeces Trogopterorum(Trogopterus Dung) as the dried feces of the animal (1).Trogopterus Xanthipes Milne-Edwards., or (2).Pteromys volans L. The Trogopterus Xanthipes Milne-Edwards., is an animal of the Trogopterus genus, the Sciuridae family(squirrel family) of the Rodentia order. The Pteromys volans L. is an animal of the Pteromys genus, the Sciuridae family(squirrel family) of the Rodentia order. These 2 small animals are introduced:

(1).Trogopterus Xanthipes Milne-Edwards.


 Trogopterus Xanthipes It is commonly known as Trogopterus xanthipes, or Chén Zú Wú Shǔ (Literally it means orange foot flying squirrel) or Fù Chǐ Wú Shǔ. The total length is about 54 cm, the tail is long and thick, almost equal to the length of the body. Kiss short, eyes are round and large, auricle developed, no bundle of hair. The hind limb is longer than the forelimb, has a hook claw; There are flying membranes between the limbs. Orange spots on the front of the head and ears; Base is grayish-black, upper yellowish, tip black; Neck back yellow is more obvious than the back. Abdominal hair is grayish-white with a pale orange tip. The color of the apomembrane is the same as that of the ventral surface, but the margin is pale. The back of the tail is similar to the back of the body, but lighter, the tail is black, connected into a longitudinal pattern until the end. The back of the fore and hind feet are orange, but the hind feet are black.

  Trogopterus Xanthipes Medium size, slightly larger than the red belly squirrel, weight 300~400 grams, body length is 300~340 mm, the tail is slightly flat, as long as the body, hind feet are 40~48 mm long, ears are 30~35 mm long. The head is round and the eyes are large, the snout is short and the ears are large and round.

 The ear base of the Trogopterus xanthipes has a long and soft distinct tuft of hair, the base of the back hair is grayish-black, the upper part is yellowish, and the tip is black. Cervical back yellow is more apparent than back, abdomen hair shows gray-white, have light orange hair tip, fly film color and ventral same, the only edge is gray-white, the division that can carry the abdomen. Tailback color and body back close, but shallow, the end of the black, the tail ventral in addition to the tail base of the hair is a slightly pale yellow, the rest of the hair tip is black, forming a longitudinal until the end of the end. The eyes are ringed with black.

 Trogopterus Xanthipes Short kiss, narrow nose bone. The center of the orbit, the anterior part of the frontal bone is sunken, and the posterior part is slightly raised. The orbital burst reaches an sharp angle. The center of the orbit, the anterior part of the frontal bone is sunken, and the posterior part is slightly raised. The zygomatic arch is well-developed and low, almost in the same plane as the tooth. The superior orbital process is nearly healed from the posterior temporal crest to the posterior parietal tip. The palatal foramen is elongated and lies before the suture between the maxilla and the premaxilla. Auditory bubbles are round and obvious. The zygomatic process of the maxilla has a protuberance around the foramen of the nerve.

 The incisors are weak and yellowish. Two upper premolars, the first is very small, hidden in the inner side of the second upper premolar, the three upper premolars are almost equal, but all are smaller than the second upper premolar. Except for the first upper premolar, the crown mask of the second upper premolar and the three upper molars are complex enamel fold and transverse ridge.

 Trogopterus Xanthipes Ecological Environment: It perches in hills with cypress trees. To build a nest in a chasm or fissure in a rocky escarpment; Black and gray feces are common near caves. It prefers to be active in the morning or evening, can glide and climb trees. Food is mainly cypress seeds and young leaves. The Trogopterus xanthipes is a forest animal, which lives in the mixed forest of needle and broad at an altitude of about 1,200 meters. It nests on tall trees or in the crevices of steep rock walls. It is distributed in north, westnorth, southwest, the middle reaches the area of the Yangtze River, and other areas of China.

 Habits and characteristics: The trogopterus xanthipes lives in the long pine trees, nest in the cave or crevices at the mountain rock cliffs, its nest looks like a bird nest, covered with branches, weeds, etc. It sleeps in the nest during the day, go out in the morning or at night, good at climbing and gliding. They feed on leaves of pine and cypress, especially fond of cypress seeds. It breeds 1-2 times a year, 2~4 young offsprings each time, glabrous at birth, but the skin membrane is obvious.

(2).Pteromys volans L.


 Pteromys volans L. It is commonly known as Xiǎo Fēi Shǔ (Literally it means small flying squirrel), or Siberian Flying Squirrel. Shaped like a squirrel and small, 135~160 mm long. The tail length is about 2/3 of the body length. Eyes are large with narrow rings of black hair. The anterior and posterior legs are covered with hairy membranes. The tail is flat, densely covered with long soft hairs. All dark grey-black, summer back hair for brown-gray, with gray ripples; Its color is yellowish-gray or yellowish-gray in winter. Abdomen's hair is white. The tail at two sides is orange-yellow. The color of the hair on the lower part of the membrane is the same as that on the back and ventral surface.

 Pteromys volans L. The Pteromys volans (small flying squirrel) is small, with a body length of less than 200 mm. The kiss is blunt. Eyes are large, ears are normal, limbs are stubby. Bare forefoot, with metacarpal and finger pads, posterior metacarpal is hairy, without metacarpal, with only 4 toe pads. The tail is flat and feathered. Female nipples are 4 pairs, i.e. 2 pairs on the chest and 2 pairs on the abdomen.

 Pteromys volans L. The Pteromys volans (small flying squirrel) hair switch in two colors in winter and summer, in summer hair is back brown-gray, gray hair base, hair tip is brown-gray; In the back hair is miscellaneous color and base color is black, upper part is gray, tip with black needle hair, make the whole backside presents gray-black ripple. The flying membrane is consistent with the body's back color. Ventral for gray, needle hair base is light gray, tip white. There are black and brown circles around the eyes. Ears are covered with light brown short hair. The back of the feet is brown, metatarsus are covered with light tan hair. Tail back, the abdomen center has a dark brown slightly dyed gray stripe, orange-yellow on both sides. Winter's hair is lighter than summer hair, yellow or yellowish gray.

 The whole length of the skull of the Pteromys volans (small flying squirrel) is no more than 41 mm. The kiss was short, reaching only a quarter of the length of the skull. The cranial region is a convex circle, supraorbital process with 1 notch, supraorbital process along the orbit protruding backward. The zygomatic arch is relatively flat. The nasal bone is shorter, with ends are smaller than the width of the ends of the premaxilla. Auditory vesicles are larger and longer than the upper teeth. The foramen magnum is subrounded.

 Pteromys volans L. The smooth front surface of the front teeth of the Pteromys volans (small flying squirrel) protrudes slightly. The first upper premolar is small, and the second upper premolar is large, with a slightly larger crown than the subsequent molars. Lower crown molars with very distinct chewing surfaces, very similar to the molars of the squirrel family. Tooth = 22.

 Ecological Environment: It lives in deep mountain dense forest, build a nest in the tree hole. Nocturnal foraging, often gliding between trees. Food is mainly pine seeds, acorns, young branches, berries, and so on. The small animal is distributed in the north and west-north area, and other areas of China. It is also distributed in Estonia, Finland, Latvia.

 Habits and characteristics: The pteromys volans perches in deep mountain dense forest, build a nest in the hole on a tree. They forage at night and often glide between trees. Food is mainly pine seeds, acorns, fresh twigs, berries, and so on.

 Trogopterus Dung:herb photo Characters of herbs: (1).Faeces Trogopterorum block: it is also known as sugar Faeces Trogopterorum. Irregular blocks with different sizes. The surface is black-brown, reddish-brown, or gray-brown, uneven, oily, and glossy, the adhered particles are oblong, the surface is often cracked and fibrous. The texture of the herb is hard, the fracture surface is yellow-brown or brown, uneven, there are some visible particles, sometimes yellow-brown resinous substances. The herb has a smelly odor.

 (2).Faeces Trogopterorum rice: it is also known as separate Faeces Trogopterorum, it is an oblong particle with a length of 5~15 mm and a diameter of 3~6 mm. The surface is black-brown, reddish-brown, or grayish-brown, which is smooth or slightly coarse and rough. There are light yellow fiber remnants often seen, and some are slightly shiny. The herb is light, the texture of the herb is loose, easily broken, the fracture surface is yellow-green, medium-yellow-brown, uneven, fibrous. The herb has a slight odor.

 Pharmacological actions: ①.inhibit the platelet aggregation induced by ADP collagen in rabbits; ②.increase coronary flow, reduce coronary resistance; ③.anti-stress injury; ④.anti-inflammatory; ⑤.antibacterial; ⑥.enhance the immune function, and other effects.

 Medicinal efficacy: Activating blood circulation, stanch pain, remove blood stasis and hemostasis (stanch bleeding), remove stagnation and detoxification. It is indicated for the pain of heart abdomen and Qi blood, amenorrhea, postpartum blood stasis and pain, postpartum abdominal pain due to blood stasis, uterine bleeding, menorrhagia, leukorrhea with bloody discharge, infantile malnutritional stagnation, bites of snakes and scorpions and centipede. The raw herb is used to activate blood circulation and relieve pain, fried herb is used to stanch bleeding.

 Administration of Faeces Trogopterorum (Wǔ Línɡ Zhī): 
 
Reference: Administration Guide of Faeces Trogopterorum (Wǔ Línɡ Zhī)
TCM Books: ①.Internally:water decoction,1.5~3 qian (about 4.5~9 grams), or prepare to pill, powder. Externally:prepare to finely ground herb powder, apply stick; ②.Internally:water decoction,5~10 grams, prepared to pill, powder. Externally:proper amount, prepare to finely ground herb powder, sprinkle apply or apply stick.
 Contraindications, Precautions and Adverse Reactions:the herb Faeces Trogopterorum should be used cautiously during pregnancy, should not combine with Panax Ginseng Root.

 
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References:
  • 1.Introduction of Wu Ling Zhi:Trogopterus Dung or Faeces Trogopterorum.

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