Square Nitrate Drugs Dynasty And Application Of Laws

In this work, different medicines of the family of Mirabilite and Niter were studied. The medicine of the family of Mirabilite include Impure mirabilite,Mirabilite,Maya-Mirabilit,Weathered mirabilite,Matrii Sulfas Exiccatus and Watermelon frost. The basic composition of mirabilite medicin is sodium sulfate while that of the Niter is potassium nitrate. This work emphasized on the Mirabilite,Niter and Impure mirabilite which are usually used in the classical prescription.Mirabilite medicine referred by Zhang Zhong-Jing in the "Shang Han Lun" and " Chin-Kuei Theories " include Mirabilite,Red-Niter,Niter and Impure mirabilite. They are referred for 50 times and used in 13 different prescriptions. In this work, the research based on the herbal lore and the discussion of the application of these medicines is proposed as follows.First:Distinguish between the name and the entityFor nitrate drugs, the distinguish between the name and the entity has been always the focus of the herbal literatures through the ages. The research project found that although the confusion of ancient nitrate drugs were a serious problem, most herbs were actually consistent with the modern. Viewed from the composition, Impure mirabilite is the crude decahydrate sodium sulfate; Mirabilite is Maya-Mirabilite, which is the refined decahydrate sodium sulfate; Weathered mirabilite is Mirabilite which loses its crystal water and formed anhydrous sodium sulfate; Matrii Sulfas Exsiccatus is calcined Mirabilite; Niter is potassium nitrate. But in the record from "The Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing", " Impure mirabilite" means potassium nitrate with a lot of impurities; "Niter" means decahydrate sodium sulfate. Then in the Tang dynasty, "Mirabilite" and "Niter" were the same thing. But at that time, there were two "Mirabilite" One is decahydrate sodium sulfate, which can be burned into anhydrous sodium sulfate and used as "Niter". Actually, it is the predecessor of Matrii Sulfas Exiccatus. The other one is Magnesium Sulphate(Hepta) made from the Secondary recrystallization, which is also known as "Bitter Nitrite". After the Song Dynasty, the name of real nitrate drugs was basically stabilized until now. It is worth to be mentioned that the "Niter" referred by the ancient Taoist always means potassium nitrate.Four different names of the nitrate drugs which are used by classical prescriptions are referred by Zhang Zhong-Jing:Mirabilite, Niter, Impure mirabilite and Red-Niter. Here, Mirabilite is the purficication of the decahydrate sodium sulfate; Impure mirabilite is the crude sodium sulfate; Niter and Red-Niter are potassium nitrate.Second:Efficacy SummaryThe records of properties and action of nitrate drugs are confused in the literatures of different ages. It is mainly manifested in the confusion of the Niter and the Mirabilite. After the rectification of the names, the properties and action of nitrate drugs is summarized as follows.Mirabilite:cold-natured,salty flavor and slightly bitter.Clearing heat Relaxing the bowels, Moisturizing dryness Softening hard mass, Discharging fire Ddetumescence, Reduce phlegm, Relieving dyspepsia, Activating blood circulation to dissipate blood stasis.Niter:warm-natured, pungent and bitter flavor and slightly salty, slightly poisonous. Scatter blood circulation to dissipate blood stasis, Scatter stasis Eliminating stagnation, Therapy for waking up a patient from unconsciousness.Third:the processing methodThe name and action of the nitrate drugs are closely related to the processing method. After the processing, the nitrate drugs are usually relatively pure, and the action is relatively eased. There are also some accessories may be added during the processing, which will make the drugs have some properties from the accessories and act like a small "compound".The processing method of Impure mirabilite is always unified. The raw material is dissolved in water, removing all the insoluble impurities, and then the solution is fried into the final product. No further refining process is included in this method, so the product of this method is "Impure" mirabilite. Of course, for different raw materials, the composition of the Impure mirabilite is quite different. Furthermore, the product made by this method is not very pure, which is a mixture of various substances.At the beginning, the processing of Mirabilite only includes processes as dissolving, filtering and cooling crystallization. In the Song Dynasty, the names of "Ying-Mirabilite" and "Maya-Mirabilite" were proposed, and they have the same component as Mirabilite. From the Ming Dynasty, radish was added as an accessory in the processing of Mirabilite, and this method has been adopted as a standard to the present.The traditional processing method of Matrii Sulfas Exsiccatus includes four steps:purification of Impure mirabilite, adding accessories, calcining and remove the irritating. It is different from the Weathered mirabilite which is made by weathering the Mirabilite; the Matrii Sulfas Exsiccatus is obtained by calcined system. Because of the differences in processing methods, the medical actions of the two drugs are different and should not be mixed in clinical use.Ancient processing methods of Niter can be divided into two types:water preparing and fire preparing. Generally, water preparing means dissolving the raw materials, filtering and selecting the solution, then drying the solution or obtain product by cooling crystallization. Product by the former method is crude with a lot of impurities, and the latter is more pure but with lower yield. Fire preparing is also known as the "Fu-Huo" in Taoist system. It can be simply summarized as heating together with the accessories. Modern processing methods of Niter are not uniform. Different methods such as cleansing, fire preparing, and water preparing with accessories are used based on different literatures.The Mirabilite, Impure mirabilite, and Maya-Mirabilite sold in modern pharmacies are generally Mirabilite, that means, decahydrate sodium sulfate. Weathered mirabilite and Matrii Sulfas Exsiccatus are anhydrous sodium sulfate. Niter is rarely available for sale. All of them are not processed.Fourth:The Law of applicationAccording to both the classical prescriptions and the records of ancient physicians, the application of Niter is much less than the drugs of Mirabilite' s family. It can be found from the development of both applications that different products, such as Matrii Sulfas Exsiccatus, are derived from different processing methods, while no obvious development and changes can be found in the application of Niter, even a trend of shrinking can be observed now.Nitrate drugs used in classical prescriptions can be divided into two categories. The first group is drugs of Mirabilite's family, including Mirabilite and Impure mirabilite, and both of them have the same main component, Na2SO4·10H2O. The second group is drugs of Niter's family, including Niter and Red-Niter, and both of them have the same composition, KN03.From the usage of these drugs by Zhang Zhongjing, usually, the cold and salty nature of Mirabilite is used to relieve constipation by purgation, moisten and soften dry and hard things, expectorant and expel blood stasis stagnation. The Mirabilite can be used in all conditions where the disease is related to Yangming and the symptom shows dryness, dyspepsia, heat syndrome or blood stasis stagnation, etc. The properties of Niter usually used its pungent flavor and bitter taste. It can be applied to silt, scatter blood, and remove dampness. For example, Niter can be used in Dampness and heat icterus and malarial nodule. Impure mirabilite is salty and cold, which can be used to relieve constipation. However, as the Crude niter is too furious, it can only used for relieving chest and abdominal distention. After the time of Zhang Zhongjing, some new drugs in the Mirabilite's family appeared, such as Maya-Mirabilite, Weathered mirabilite, Matrii Sulfas Exsiccatus and Watermelon frost and so on. Besides the traditional usage in classical prescription, more external application of Mirabilite has been developed, including ophthalmology, department of stomatology, dermatological department and some other areas. Maya-Mirabilite is similar to Mirabilite and for it is more pure, it is much more widely used as ophthalmic drugs. Weathered mirabilite is usually used to facilitate expectoration resulted from disease of upper energizer for it is very light. Matrii Sulfas Exsiccatus is more pure and soothing, so it is usually used to release the lower hot and used externally in eyes and throats. Watermelon frost is usually used in the throat.The records of the application of Niter are quite disordered. Sometimes, Niter referred by some literatures is Mirabilite in fact. The real Niter is warm, pungent and ascending, so it is usually used for the treatment of some cold diseases and malignant malaria,syncope by phlegm,Stagnation of blood mass and so on.The same point of the effect of Mirabilite and Niter is both of them can remove stagnation. And the differences are as follows. Firstly, Mirabilite taste salty while Niter taste pungent. As a result, Mirabilite is powerful to break or remove material stagnant, such as putrefaction and blood, while Niter is useful to diffuse disperse stagnant, such as Dampness and heat icterus,malarial nodule and so on. Secondly, Mirabilite is pure cold with the property to descend, while Niter has the potential to ascend and is a little warm. In another word, Niter is more powerful in digestion but not as cold as Mirabilite.