Medicine Traditions
  • Home
  • About
  • Resources
    • Brief Overview of Traditional Medicine
    • Timeline
    • Authors and Sources
    • Glossaries
    • Articles on Traditional Medicine
    • Photos
    • Medicine Pictures
    • Substitute Medicines
  • Theory
  • Materia Medica
    • Ayurvedic Materia Medica
    • Chinese Materia Medica
    • Tibetan Materia Medica
    • Unani Materia Medica
    • Materia Medica of Herbal Medicine FREE
    • Materia Medica of Herbal Medicine PRO
    • Mineral Materia Medica
    • Animal Materia Medica
    • Chinese Classification
    • Western Classification
    • Humoral Medicine
    • Herbal Combinations
  • Formulas
  • Treatment
    • Types of Treatment in Traditional Medicine
    • Treatment of Specific Conditions
    • Diseases and Formulas
  • Patient Resources
  • Links & Texts
  • Contact Us
  • Store
  • Blog
Sentry Page Protection
Please Wait...

Unicorn Horn–Narwhal

Picture

Unicorn horn was listed in a number of traditional formula, usually against Heat, Poison, and Infectious diseases. Its use is similar to the use of Rhinoceros horn in TCM. For a long time, the exact source of this medicine was obscure. It has been said that sailors in northern waters would sometimes see horses on the beaches of Islands, and when they landed they would find long, pointed, spiral horns. This, perhaps, is the origin of the mythical Unicorn–the horse with a horn on its head. The horn, however, is from the Narwhal, and was revered as a potent medicine against Poison and Infectious diseases.


Picture



Mythical Unicorn
Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578



Picture
Illustration of both the mythical and true Unicorn (Narwhal)
Museum Museorum, Valentini, 1704

Picture
'Unicorn Marinum'
Museum Wormianum, 1655

Picture
Narwhal, the true source of Unicorn horn.
(Shaw, G. Zoological Lectures delivered at the Royal Institution, 1809
)


Zoological name:
Monodon monoceros

Parts used:
Horn

Temperature & Taste:
Cold, dry. Salty

Uses:
1. Clears Heat, Resists Poison:
-Fevers, including Epidemic Fever
-venomous Bites including Snake Bite and Rabid Dogs
-generally used as Rhino horn in TCM

2. Cheers the Heart:
-used in Cordial preparations (especially the gelatin)


SUBSTITUTES:
1. 'Unicorn' horn was used similarly to Rhinoceros horn in TCM. Both are used against Heat and Poison, and both were highly regarded for that purpose. TCM now considers the extract of Water Buffalo horn as an acceptable substitute for Rhino horn, and this may be used in place of Unicorn horn. The dose should be 10-fold, but the 10:1 extracts available may be used on a 1:1 basis in formula.
2. It was also accounted very similar to Ivory.

Main Combinations:

1. A Gelatin was prepared with a little Saffron and Cochineal, and this was used as a Cordial.

Cautions:
1. It is Cold, so generally only used in cases with Heat.

Main Preparations used:
Powder, Gelatin

Home
ABOUT
RESOURCES

materia medica – FREE
Materia Medica – PRO
Classifications


Diseases & Formulas
Links & Texts
Patient Resources

Shop
Texts for Sale
Contact us

TERMS OF USE

PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright © 2015–2020
  • Home
  • About
  • Resources
    • Brief Overview of Traditional Medicine
    • Timeline
    • Authors and Sources
    • Glossaries
    • Articles on Traditional Medicine
    • Photos
    • Medicine Pictures
    • Substitute Medicines
  • Theory
  • Materia Medica
    • Ayurvedic Materia Medica
    • Chinese Materia Medica
    • Tibetan Materia Medica
    • Unani Materia Medica
    • Materia Medica of Herbal Medicine FREE
    • Materia Medica of Herbal Medicine PRO
    • Mineral Materia Medica
    • Animal Materia Medica
    • Chinese Classification
    • Western Classification
    • Humoral Medicine
    • Herbal Combinations
  • Formulas
  • Treatment
    • Types of Treatment in Traditional Medicine
    • Treatment of Specific Conditions
    • Diseases and Formulas
  • Patient Resources
  • Links & Texts
  • Contact Us
  • Store
  • Blog