杏核仁 Apricot Kernel

Original, read line by line 東醫寶鑑 · Tangaek — Decoctions vol. 2

1. 性溫, 味甘苦, 有毒一云小毒. 主咳逆上氣.

   Its nature is warm and its taste sweet and bitter; it is toxic, though one account calls it slightly toxic. It governs cough with counterflow and qi surging upward.

   HomiclubHaenghaegin is the kernel taken from inside the hard apricot stone. The toxicity the text records comes from amygdalin; where the kernel is eaten today, low-amygdalin varieties are chosen, while the rest is pressed for oil or used in cosmetics.

2. 療肺氣喘促, 解肌出汗, 殺狗毒.

   It heals hurried panting from lung qi, releases the flesh to bring out sweat, and kills dog poison.

3. 處處有之, 山杏不堪入藥, 須家園種者. 五月採.

   It is found everywhere. Mountain apricots are not fit to put into medicine; it must be those planted in a household garden. Gather in the fifth month.

   HomiclubSanhaeng refers to the wild apricot of the hills, whose fruit is small and astringent. It is reckoned a different species from the apricot planted in household gardens.

4. 入手太陰經. 破核取仁, 湯浸去皮尖及雙仁, 麩炒令黃色用之.

   It enters the hand taeeum channel. Crack the stone and take the kernel, soak it in hot water to remove the skin, the tip, and any double kernels, then parch it with wheat bran until it turns yellow for use.

5. 雙仁者殺人, 可以毒狗. 凡桃杏雙仁殺人者, 其花本五出, 若六出必雙仁.

   Double kernels kill people and can be used to poison a dog. In general, where double kernels of peach and apricot kill people, it is because the flower properly comes out in fives; if it comes out in sixes, it will surely bear a double kernel.

6. 草木花皆五出, 惟山梔, 雪花六出, 此殆陰陽之理. 今桃杏雙仁有毒者, 失其常也. 《入門》

   The flowers of plants and trees all come out in fives; only the sanchi (山梔, gardenia) and snow crystals come out in sixes, and this is likely the principle of eum and yang. That double kernels of peach and apricot now carry poison is a loss of their constancy. 《Immun (入門)》

   HomiclubThe observation that snow crystals grow in sixes appears repeatedly in old writings. That this follows from the hexagonal way water molecules link together was established only much later.

7. 生熟喫俱得, 惟半生半熟殺人. 《本草》

   It may be eaten either raw or cooked, but only the half-raw and half-cooked kills a person. 《Boncho (本草)》

8. 病人有火有汗, 童尿浸三日用. 《入門》

   If the patient has fire and sweating, soak it for three days in the urine of a young boy before use. 《Immun (入門)》