Materia Medica of Metals, Minerals, Stones, Gems and Salts

Illustration from the Chapter of Mineral and Metal Medicines,
Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578

Minerals have long been used in medicine in all traditions. There are around 4900 described minerals, about 200 are classed as 'common' and 20 of them, 'very common'.

Major categories of minerals include:
  • elements
  • sulfides
  • oxides
  • halides
  • carbonates
  • sulfates
  • phosphates
  • silicates.

Categorization in the Traditional Mineral Materia Medica typically include:
  • Minerals
  • Metals
  • Salts
  • Gems
  • Earths.

We have divided Mineral Medicines into the following categories:
  • Metals and Metallic Minerals
  • Stones and Minerals
  • Salts
  • Earths
  • Stones and Shells from the Sea
  • Fossils
  • Gems and Semi-Precious Stones
  • Stones of Animal Origin

In the Traditional Materia Medica some animal by-products (shells, pearls etc.) were classed with minerals while some medicines thought of as animal by-products were actually fossils (Toadstone, Lynx stone etc.).

In our clasification, some minerals are listed twice in different categories, for example Pearls can be classed as a Gem, Stones from the Sea, and Stone of Animal Origin.

A list of Primary sources for the Mineral Materia Medica can be found here.






Left
A seller at the Chengdu Medicine Market specialising in mineral medicines. The jars at top are gemstones, while Amber, Pearl, Cinnabar, Shells, Salts, Fossils, Shilajit and numerous other minerals are down below. Note the labels are in both Chinese and Tibetan, as Tibetan Medicine uses lots of mineral and gem medicines.
(Adam, 2019)
Metals and Metallic Minerals

Stones and Minerals

Salts

Earths

Stones and Shells from the Sea

Fossils

Gems & Semi-precious Stones

Stones of Animal Origin

Note that not all of the following are of animal origin, but were traditionally believed to have been of animal origin.

Other Resources related to Minerals:

Sources for Mineral Materia Medica
Preparation of Medicines
Mineral Hardness
Introduction to Gem Medicines
Sample Gem Formulas