Pharmaceutical Name:

Concha Meretricis seu Cyclinae

Zoological Name:

Cyclina sinensis Gmelin
Meretrix meretrix L.

Common Name:

Sea Clam shell

Source of Earliest Record:

Shennong Bencao Jing

Part Used & Method for Pharmaceutical Preparations:

The clam shells are collected from the seashore and pounded into powder.

Properties and Taste:

Bitter, salty and cold

Meridians:

Lung and stomach

Functions:

To clear heat in the lungs and resolve phlegm
To soften hardness and release nodules

Indications and Combinations:

1.     Phlegm-heat cough manifested as cough with think yellow sputum, asthma, chest pain and hypochondriac pain.
*Use with Costazia bone (Haifushi), Swallowwort rhizome (Baiqian), Mulberry bark (Sangbaipi), Capejasmine (Zhizi) and Trichosanthes fruit (Gualou).

2.      Scrofula and goiter.
*Use with Laminaria (Kunbu), Seaweed (Haizao) and Ark shell (Walengzi) in the formula Hanhua Wan.

Dosage:

10-15 g

Cautions:

This substance is normally used in powered form and should be placed in a cloth bag for decoction or removed from the decoction with a strainer.