Vespertilio Faeces, Bat Feces, Ye Ming Sha 夜明砂
Ye Ming Sha (“Nocturnal Clarity Sand”, TCM)
Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578
Spicilegia Zoologica, Pallas, 1767
Plecotus auritus
(Illustration by Ernst Haeckel) (Wikimedia)
Zoological name:
Several species supply this medicine in China:
- Vespertilio superans (Asian particolored bat, official)
- Pipistrellus abrarnus (Japanese House bat)
- Rhinolopus ferrurnequinum (Greater Horseshoe bat)
- Plecotus auritus (Brown Long-eared bat, Brown big-eared bat)
Some modern Chinese texts state that any Bat feces can be used with the above-mentioned species being the most commonly used in China.
Parts used:
Feces (TCM)
Temperature & Taste:
Cold, dry. Pungent
Classification:
Uses:
1. Clears Liver Heat, Brightens the Eyes:
-Night-Blindness, superficial visual obstruction, Blurry vision
-Cataracts
-Red eyes, bleeding into the whites of the eyes from Liver heat
-used topically in the west for films and superficial visual obstruction
-also Childhood Fright
-“They serve to treat blindness and obstructive shades. They clear the eyes”. (Li Shi Zhen)
2. Moves the Blood, Opens Obstructions, Clears Stasis:
-Trauma, Bruising
-accumulations from childhood nutritional impairment (chronic malnutrition)
-traditionally for Malarial disorders, painful dribbling urine and Scrofula
-“They break through accumulations of cold and heat”. (Ben Jing)
-“They serve to treat [patients] having been pounced on by a horse, resulting in injury and pain”. (Su Song)
-“Burned to ashes, the amount held by a square cun spoon ingested with wine will cause a dead Fetus to be discharged”. (Su Gong)
Dose:
Only the prepared product should be used in Powders or Pills.
Decoction: 3–9 grams
Roasted Powder: 2–5 grams.
Added to hot wine, steeped, and the clear liquid taken stops pain caused by trauma and blood stasis.
Comment:
Bat Blood was applied to stop the growth of Hair. (West)
Preparation:
First it is washed, then it is stir-fried or baked (heated in an oven at 120 degree C for an hour) when prepared as a powder for internal use.
Main Combinations:
1. Obstructed or blurry vision:
i. Bat feces (Ye Ming Sha) with Abalone shell (Shi Jue Ming)
ii. Bat feces (Ye Ming Sha) with Lycium Gou Qi Zi (‘Goji’), Paeonia Bai Shao, Tribulus Ci Ji Li
iii. Bat feces (Ye Ming Sha) with Dang Gui, Cicada Slough (Chan Tui), Horsetail (with nodes removed) (1 part each). Boil 4 parts of Lamb Liver until it forms a paste, and mix with the powdered herbs and form pills. Take before meals with hot water. (Ben Cao Gang Mu)
2. Poor vision, prepare a powder of Bat feces (Ye Ming Sha), Platycladus leaf (fried) and glutinous rice (fried until yellow). Mix with Ox bile and form pills. (Sheng Hui)
3. Night-blindness:
i. Bat feces (Ye Ming Sha) eaten with animal Liver
ii. Bat feces (Ye Ming Sha) with Lycium Gou Qi Zi (‘Goji’)
4. Senile Cataracts:
i. Bat feces (Ye Ming Sha), Calamus (Shi Chang Pu), Astragalus cornplanatus seed (Sha Yuan Zi)
ii. Bat feces (Ye Ming Sha) taken with Qi Ju Di Huang Wan.
iii. Bat feces (Ye Ming Sha) are decocted with Pig Liver. (Ben Cao Gang Mu)
5. Films of the Eyes, Bat Dung, Cuttlefish bone, Rock Sugar, Pearl, Cassia, Tragacanth, applied topically (Syrian ‘Book of Medicine‘, Budge, 1913)
6. Childhood nutritional impairment, Bat feces (Ye Ming Sha) with Atracylodes Bai Zhu, Citrus Chen Pi
7. Malaria:
i. take 1 qian (3 grams) of Bat feces (Ye Ming Sha) with cold tea. “Immediately effective”. (Ben Cao Gang Mu)
ii. chronic long-lasting Malaria: Bat feces (Ye Ming Sha) (50 pieces), prepared Cinnabar (15 grams), Musk (3 grams). Powder, mix with glutinous rice to form small pills the size of Mung beans. Take 10 as a dose. (Ben Cao Gang Mu)
Cautions:
1. Avoid during pregnancy
2. Generally only used for eye diseases with Heat or Stasis (not deficiency).
3. Bats often contain a number of viruses. Therefore, any Bat product, including the feces, should be heated in an oven (120 degree C for an hour) or stir-fried well before use. For this reason it is best used in decoction, which is the preferred method of use in China.
Main Preparations used:
Prepared Bat feces
