Photos of Animal Materia Medica

Slices of good quality Velvet Deer Horn (Lu Rong) imported from New Zealand. This is the archetypal ‘Yang’ tonic of TCM.

Farmed Turtle Shell, the archetypal ‘Yin’ tonic of TCM.

Bulk farmed Gecko. This is a ‘Yang’ tonic, and increases Sexual desire. Interestingly, Skink is used very similarly in the Western tradition, and is still used in Unani today.

Snake skin.

Human Placenta prepared two different ways. While these are are from the Chengdu Herb Market, Placenta has been used in various Traditional Medicine systems, including the West. Today, Placenta sold in China is often certified to be from patients who are free of disease. In Hong Kong, individually packaged Placenta with a government certificate of being diseases free are available.

A close-up on an individual Gecko.

Bezoar stones from South America. These stones were traditionally called ‘Occidental Bezoar’ in the Western Tradition as opposed to the ‘Oriental Bezoar’ which came from the East, and was considered more valuable. Today, Bezoar stones command prices of US$20,000 per kilo.

Siberian Musk pods with grains of Musk. Genuine Musk can be acquired from reputable sources in Chengdu for around US$50 per half gram (2014).