✵The article gives records of the herb Amber, its English name, Latin name, property and flavor, its source mineral, ①.succinum, with a detailed introduction to the features of this mineral, the ecological environment of this mineral, the features of the herb Amber, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guide.
Succinum (Amber).
Pin Yin Name: Hǔ Pò.
English Name: Amber.
Latin Name: Succinum.
Property and flavor: neutral in nature, sweet.
Brief introduction: The herb Succinum is a yellowish or brownish fossil resin, used as (1).a sedative for the treatment of insomnia, dream-disturbed sleep, palpitation and convulsion, and (2).as a diuretic and hemostatic for urodynia and hematuria due to acute urinary infection and urinary calculus. The herb is commonly known as Amber, Succinum, Hǔ Pò.
Source: Common herbal classics and other famous herbal classics defined the herb Succinum (Amber) as the hydrocarbons formed by ancient pine tree resin buried underground for long-term condensation. This commonly used herb is introduced:
Succinum(Amber).
Description: Amber is also known as Succinum, commonly known as Hǔ Pò. In ancient China, amber was once known as Hǔ Pò (means "the soul of a tiger"), Shòu Pò (means "the soul of a beast"), Jiāng Zhū (means "pearl in a river"), Wèi Yù (means "lost jade"), ancient story said a tiger died, and its soul entered into the ground and turned into a stone, or that amber is tears shed by a tiger, these legends contain speculation and pursue about the origin of the amber by ancient Chinese, suggests that ancient people think that the amber has functions of bring luck and avoid evil, quiet the house and calm down the spirit. And in the eyes of the ancient Emperors, amber also has a special significance, according to the records, "the emperor miscellaneous ornaments for the heaven altar with lapis lazuli, earth altar with amber, sun altar with coral, moon altar with turquoise."
Amber is the pine cypress resin from the Mesozoic Cretaceous to Cenozoic tertiary, formed by geological processes and organic mixture. The formation of amber generally has three stages, the first stage is the resin secreted from the cypress tree and pine tree, the second stage is the resin is buried deep, and petrification, resin composition, structure, and characteristics changed significantly; The third stage is when the petrochemical resin is scoured, transported, deposited and diagenically formed amber.
Morphological characteristics: Amber is amorphous, often in block mass, loose granular, stalactitic, small drop shape, more irregular granule, block. Some, like the rings of a tree, have a radial texture; They may contain animal remains, plant fragments, etc., and are distributed in coal and sandy clay loam layers. Amber which was found in the coal layer and has a firm and hard texture is known as Méi Pò (coal amber), amber which was found in the clay layer and has a loose texture and light is known as Hǔ Pò. The colors of amber are various, yellow, brown to pale brown, orange-yellow, and sometimes have color tones of red, brown, or green. It is transparent to opaque (non-transparent), and has the luster of pine resins. The hardness of amber is low, its hardness value is 2~2.5, relative density (specific gravity) is 1.05~1.09, its texture is light, has gem-like luster, and crystal, another characteristic of amber is it contains particularly rich inclusions, such as insects, plants, minerals, and so on.
Amber is easily melting, and blowout with sounds. When amber is heated to 150 Deg C, it starts to turn soft, and it melt-out at 250~400 Deg C, it is soluble in sulphuric acid and hot nitric acid, partially soluble in ethanol, and turpentine oil.
Ecological Environment: It is mainly distributed in conglomerate rocks and coal seam sediments of the cretaceous era and tertiary era.
Harvest and storage: After digging out from the stratum or coal seam, remove sand, stone, soil, and other impurities. It is light and easy to store, and perfect amber is highly collectible.
Distribution: The natural amber is mainly distributed and produced from areas of Baltic States, Burma, China, Dominican Republic, Mexico, etc.
Characters of herbs: Amber: it is an irregular block, stalactitic shape, coarsely granular, or polygonal. Blocks vary in size, amber of lump-shape can be up to 6 cm long, and amber of stalactitic shape is 1~4.5 cm in diameter, and up to 7 cm long. The surface is smooth or uneven, sanguine, primrose yellow (pale yellow) to pale brown or dark brown, often arranged alternatively; The streaks are white, transparent to translucent, has retinoid luster (resin-like luster), the herb is light, the texture of the herb is crisp and fragile, and easily broken when it is twisted. The fracture surface is smooth and has a hyaloid luster (glass-like luster). With friction, it shows electrical properties and can attract rushes or thin paper. The herb has a slight turpentine or rosin odor, it has a mild taste, is fragile when it is chewed, no sense of sand and gravel. It's easy to melt with fire, blowout with sound, and white smoke.
The herb of a better grade is red and bright, the blocks are orderly, the texture is crisp and fragile, and the fracture surface is splendent. The herb of an inferior grade is small, the texture is hard and dark brown. The herb is insoluble in acid, and slightly soluble in warm alcohol and other solvents.
Coal amber: it is also known as black amber. It is an irregular polygonal block or granular, and a few of them are stalactitic in shape and vary in size. It is pale yellow, light brown, or dark brown (black brown). Furthermore, it is glossy, the texture is firm and hard, and difficult to break with twisting. If the black part of the surface is removed, it turns transparent or translucent and is vitreous-like. The fracture surface has a hyaloid luster (glass-like luster). It has a kerosene (coal oil) odor and a mild taste. It has no sensation of sand and gravel when gets chewing. The herb of a better grade is yellow-brown, and the fracture surface has a hyaloid luster (glass-like luster).
Medicinal efficacy: Relieving convulsion, calm the nerves (relieve uneasiness of mind and body tranquilization), eliminating stasis to activate blood circulation, hematischesis (stanch bleeding), promoting diuresis for stranguria, remove nebula and improving eyesight (improving acuity of vision). It is indicated for infantile convulsions and epilepsy, palpitate with fear, insomnia (agrypnia, or lose sleep), bloody stranguria (stranguria complicated by hematuria), hematuria (blood urine), urinary stoppage, blood stagnation and amenorrhea, menostasis, postpartum abdominal pain stasis, abdominal mass and accumulation, nebula(slight corneal opacity), ulcer and sores, traumatic injury.
Administration of Succinum (Hǔ Pò):
Reference:
Administration Guide of Succinum (Hǔ Pò)
TCM Books:
①.Internally:prepare to pill, powder, 3~6 fen (about 0.9~1.8 grams). Externally:prepare to finely ground herb powder, point apply or sprinkle apply' ②.Internally:prepare to pill, powder, 3~6 fen (about 0.9~1.8 grams). Externally:prepare to finely ground herb powder, point apply or sprinkle apply.
✵The article gives records of the herb Amber, its English name, Latin name, property and flavor, its source mineral, ①.succinum, with a detailed introduction to the features of this mineral, the ecological environment of this mineral, the features of the herb Amber, its pharmacological actions, medicinal efficacy, and administration guide.
Pin Yin Name: Hǔ Pò.
Description: Amber is also known as Succinum, commonly known as Hǔ Pò. In ancient China, amber was once known as Hǔ Pò (means "the soul of a tiger"), Shòu Pò (means "the soul of a beast"), Jiāng Zhū (means "pearl in a river"), Wèi Yù (means "lost jade"), ancient story said a tiger died, and its soul entered into the ground and turned into a stone, or that amber is tears shed by a tiger, these legends contain speculation and pursue about the origin of the amber by ancient Chinese, suggests that ancient people think that the amber has functions of bring luck and avoid evil, quiet the house and calm down the spirit. And in the eyes of the ancient Emperors, amber also has a special significance, according to the records, "the emperor miscellaneous ornaments for the heaven altar with lapis lazuli, earth altar with amber, sun altar with coral, moon altar with turquoise."
Amber is the pine cypress resin from the Mesozoic Cretaceous to Cenozoic tertiary, formed by geological processes and organic mixture. The formation of amber generally has three stages, the first stage is the resin secreted from the cypress tree and pine tree, the second stage is the resin is buried deep, and petrification, resin composition, structure, and characteristics changed significantly; The third stage is when the petrochemical resin is scoured, transported, deposited and diagenically formed amber.
Morphological characteristics: Amber is amorphous, often in block mass, loose granular, stalactitic, small drop shape, more irregular granule, block. Some, like the rings of a tree, have a radial texture; They may contain animal remains, plant fragments, etc., and are distributed in coal and sandy clay loam layers. Amber which was found in the coal layer and has a firm and hard texture is known as Méi Pò (coal amber), amber which was found in the clay layer and has a loose texture and light is known as Hǔ Pò. The colors of amber are various, yellow, brown to pale brown, orange-yellow, and sometimes have color tones of red, brown, or green. It is transparent to opaque (non-transparent), and has the luster of pine resins. The hardness of amber is low, its hardness value is 2~2.5, relative density (specific gravity) is 1.05~1.09, its texture is light, has gem-like luster, and crystal, another characteristic of amber is it contains particularly rich inclusions, such as insects, plants, minerals, and so on.
URL QR code:
