Centipede
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Herbs for Calming the Liver and Checking Wind
Centipede
Latin:
Scolopendra
Origin:
The dried body of Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans L. Koch., one of the most common species in China, and is used as a traditional drug, is an animal of the family Scolopendridae. There are about 2,800 species of centipede.
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Centipede is a long, flattened, many-segmented predaceous anthropod with each segment bearing one pair of legs, except the hindmost. Centipedes remain under stones, bark, and ground litter by day. At night they capture other small invertebrates. They move rapidly on from 14 to 177 pairs of legs and have one pair of long, many-jointed antennae and a pair of jawlike, venomous claws just behind the head.
Centipede feeds mostly on small insects, spiders, earthworms, and other arthropods. It attacks its prey with the last prehensorial legs, then curves its head quickly behind to implant its venomous jaws deeply and firmly into the prey. The prey is held by the centipede's other legs until it dies from the fast-acting venom.
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In China, centipede is mainly produced in the provinces Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan, Henan, Shaanxi, Anhui, etc. Caught in spring and summer, it is inserted by a bamboo strip into the head and tail, make straight and dry or scald in boiling water and then dry in the sun or bake until dry for use.
Properties:
Pungent in flavor, warm and toxic in nature, it is related to the liver channel.
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Functions:
Relieves spasms and convulsions, counteracts toxic substances and resolves masses as well as removes obstructions in the channels to relieve pain.
Applications:
1. Treats spasms and clonic convulsions:
Pungent in taste and warm in nature, the centipede has a potency that migrates so well that it goes through and reaches both the interior and the exterior. It is more powerful than the scorpion in calming endopathic wind, dispelling wind and removing obstructions in the channels.
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a) Spasms and clonic convulsions due to a variety of causes:
This drug is often used in mutual reinforcement with the scorpion, e.g., Zhijing San.
b) Acute and chronic infantile convulsions, tetanus (an acute infectious disease characterized by tonic spasm of voluntary muscles especially of the jaw), facial hemiparesis (paralysis affecting only one side of the body) due to the effects of apoplexy (haemorrhage into the brain, a stroke) in the channels, etc.:
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This drug can also be used in combination with other appropriate drugs for the treatment of such ailments as acute and chronic convulsions, tetanus, facial hemiparesis due to the effects of apoplexy in the channels, etc.
2. Treats ulcers with pyogenic infections, scrofula (tuberculosis of lymph nodes especially in the neck) and subcutaneous nodules:
This drug counteracts toxins with its own poisonous property and resolves masses with its pungent taste.
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a) Malignant boils with pyogenic infections:
It is made into an ointment in combination with realgar and pig bile, e.g., Buer San, for external application onto affected parts, producing rather good effects.
b) Scrofula and ulcers:
This drug is ground together with tea into fine powder for application onto affected parts.
c) Snake bite:
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The drug is baked until yellow, ground into fine powder and taken with boiled water, or it can be used together with Chinese goldthread
rhizome (Rhizoma Coptidis), rhubarb (Radix et Rhizoma Rhei), raw licorice, etc.
3. Treats obstinate rheumatism:
This drug is also similar to the scorpion in removing obstructions in the channels to relieve pain.
This drug can be used together with wind-dispelling, dampness- removing and channel-clearing drugs such as fangfeng (Radix Ledebouriellae), angelica root (Radix Angelicae Pubescentis), Chinese clematis root (Radix Clematidis), etc.
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4. Treats obstinate headache or hemicrania (a pain that affects only one side of the head):
This drug can dispel wind, remove obstructions in the channels and kill pain.
It can be used together with elevated gastrodia tuber (Radix Gastrodiae), chuanxiong (Rhizoma Ligustici Chuanxiong), silkworm larva, etc.
Dosage and Administration:
1-3 g., decoct for oral administration.
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0.6-1 g., grind the centipede into powder for swallowing.
Use an adequate amount externally.
Cautions on Use:
As this drug is toxic, no excessive dose should be used.
It should be used carefully by pregnant women.
Reference Materials:
'Shen Nong's Herbal Classic' :
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"Eliminating snake, insect and fish toxins and expelling ascarids, ancylostomi and teniae."
'Other Medical Records of Famous Physicians' :
"Accumulation of heat and cold in the chest and abdomen."
"Inducing abortion and removing extravasated blood."
'The Compendium of Materia Medica' :
"Infantile epilepsy due to fright, clonic convulsions due to pathogenic wind, umbilical convulsions, lockjaw, erysipelas, tinea capitis, scrofula, anal boils, hemorrhoids, herpes zoster and snake bite."
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Toxic or Side Effects:
When humans are bit by a centipede, two puncture wounds are evident, and reaction to the injected venom can range from slight swelling of the immediate area to massive swelling of the affected limb. With the latter, medical attention should be sought.
Modern Researches:
This drug contains two kinds of toxic ingredients similar to apisin (bee venom), i.e., histamine-like substances and hemolytic proteins. In addition, it also contains fatty oil, cholesterol, formic acid and a variety of amino acids, such as histidine, arginine, leucine, etc.
A centipede and leech injection can strengthen the reticuloendothelial cells.
A centipede water infusion can inhibit mycobacterium tuberculosis and a variety of dermatomyces to different extents. The centipede and leech injection can inhibit tumour cells., 百拇医药