Animal Organs and By-products

Animal Organs have long been used in Traditional Medicine. In fact there is a great overlap in the use of animal organs as food and medicine. The use of offal as food is common to all ancient cultures and is still common in many Traditional cultures. It has been common in the West until relatively recently, but has become less common in the past generation.

Organs tend to be nutrient-rich, and supply nutrients suitable to the corresponding organ in the human body. They are therefore very useful for deficiency conditions of the organs.

Certain animals have been preferred as sources for certain organs; Fox Lungs were preferred for Lung deficiency and Bull or Deer Pizzle or Testicles for Impotence in the Western Tradition.

The following is primarily derived from the Western Tradition, TCM, and the Organotherapists (‘Cell Therapists’) who used glandular extracts in the early 20th century.

Commentaries of the early Pharmacopoeias, such as the London Pharmacopoeia of Salmon, have extensive information on the medicinal use of the various parts of each animal.

Brains
Cow (defatted), Sheep or Ram, Chicken, Sparrow
“The best brain is procured from birds particularly the mountain birds. Among the animals, the brains of lamb and calf are the best”. (Avicenna)
Brains and Cold and Moist. (Avicenna)
“Consumption of all kinds of brain is very beneficial
in cases of poisoning and animal bites”. (Avicenna)

Cow:
-neurasthenia, melancholy, epilepsy, migraine, psychosis, insanity, hysteria and other mental illness
Chicken:
-strengthen the Brain: strengthens Wit and Memory
-given with wine to stop uterine bleeding (Dioscorides)
-taken with wine for Scorpion bite (Magic of Kirani)
Ram:
-lethargy and sleepiness (Schroder)
Sparrow:
-Aphrodisiacs, for Impotence and for Infertility (still used like this in Unani)
Rabbit:
-Incontinence and Urinary retention.
-Fear and Epilepsy; with wine for Lethargy and Paralysis; used in Tibetan Medicine for Mental illness, Paralysis.
-used to promote Labor (TCM)
-Antidote to poisons. (Salmon)

1. Madness.
‘Let Sheep brains be distilled with milk, and let the water be given to 3 or 4 ounces, thrice a day’. (The London Practice of Physic, Dr. Willis, 1689.
2. Lethargy
Rams Brain, Sheep Suet, Cinnamon, Nutmegs
The brains are fried and made into a cake with the other ingredients. This is good for Lethargy and other ‘drowsie diseases’. (Schroder)
3. Retention of Urine:
‘Take the Brains of a Hare, and mix the same with wine. Let the patient smell it for an hour and then drink it’. (The Physicians of Myddvai, translated by John Pughe esq., 1861)

Pizzle and/or Testicles
Bull, Deer, Ram, Fox
-Strengthens Kidney Yang: aphrodisiac, impotence, lower back pain
-powdered Bull Penis was used for Dysentery (Salmon)
-ashes of Bull penis were given for Pleurisy (Riverius)
-‘The spermatic vessels [of a Bull] burnt with the Stones [testicles], stops bleeding. Note. This is the Jews remedy after Circumcision’. (Schroder)
-Testicles were said by cell therapists to have a rejuvenating effect on the male reproductive system, improving circulation to the whole body, normalising blood pressure and improving skin and hair. Also for Prostatitis.
-‘According to Niehans, they [testes] have been proved to be a prophylaxis for Cancer-endangered patients and to retard its development’.

1. To Promote Urine
Boars Testes, dried and powdered. Take as much as will lye on a 6 pence or a Shilling. It cleanses the bladder and promotes urine.

Marrow
Deer (best), Bull, Cow, Ox, Sheep
-strengthens Marrow and Blood
-Kidney Tonic; Aphrodisiac, promotes Conception (West, TCM: Deer, Sheep)
-Fractures, Osteoarthritis, Osteoarthrosis (Cow, Deer etc)
-pernicious anemia, chlorosis, scurvy, purpura, hemophilia, debility, rickets, splenic leucocythemia, hemoglobinuria, (Cow, Deer etc.)
-general wasting or debility
-Calf marrow was applied externally for hard and fibroid tumors
-Bladder Stones and Hematuria (Salmon; Sheep)
-Especially good for malignant leg Ulcers. (Deer, Salmon)

Feet
-Lamb feet, made into a gelatin was used for weakness of the Back and Consumption
-Cow feet (hooves) were used for Convulsions in West and TCM; also for Cough, Consumption and as a restorative.

Lungs
Sheep, Fox (preferred)
-Lung weakness; deficient Cough, wheezing (Fox, Sheep)
-used against Poison; eaten to prevent drunkenness. (Sheep)
-Thirst, Polyuria (TCM; Sheep)

Heart
Calf is best (West), Sheep, Pig
Rabbit and Yak Heart are used in Tibetan Medicine
Pig, Calf:
-moves the Blood, strengthens the Heart–Heart pain, anemia, postpartum weakness (TCM)
-Heart degeneration, thrombosis, Heart weakness due to ageing, irregularities in the Heart valves (Cell therapists)
-Sweating from fear or debility (TCM)
-Slow development in children (Cell therapists)
-Fear, Anger (West)
Rabbit Heart:
-Heart wind, anxiety, Restlessness (Tibetan)
-Heart pain (Tibetan Medicine)
-mental disorder, mental dullness, Insanity (Tibetan)
-Paralysis, Parkinson’s disease (Tibetan)
-Epilepsy (West)
-Cerebral Ischemia, Numbness
-diseases caused by Evil Spirits that effect the mind (Tibetan Medicine)
-Pain of the Womb (West)

1. Heart weakness, Calf heart and Cinnamon (West)
2. Calf Heart with Calf Lung and Liver for Consumption (West)
3. Mental dullness, Heart Wind, Rabbit Heart with Aloeswood, Chebula, Nutmeg, Clove (Tibetan Medicine)

Liver
Cow (Calf is best), Sheep, Pig, Chicken
“The liver obtained from a fat duck or a hen is preferred to be used”. (Avicenna)

-Liver and Blood deficiency; a good blood tonic in anemia
-strengthens the Eyes, benefits Sight (TCM; Sheep, Pig, Chicken)
-headache, palpitations and dizziness from blood deficiency
-Cow Liver ashes were used for Dysentery and Bleeding
-Benefits Eyesight: poor vision, night-blindness, glaucoma, optic nerve atrophy (Cow)
-Chicken Liver strengthens Liver and Kidneys; good for anemia, blurred vision, habitual miscarriage, lower back pain, tinnitus
-childhood weakness

Gall Bladder
Cow; others
-Used for gastroenteritis, Dyspepsia, chronic Constipation, Jaundice.
-Tinnitus, Deafness and Tics. (TCM)
-topically to sores and abscesses. (West, TCM)

Chicken
-clears Heat and Toxin
-Lung Heat, Whooping Cough (TCM)

Kidney
Bull, Sheep (Lamb is best)
-Strengthens Kidneys: impotence, lower back pain, premature ejaculation, poor hearing, fatigue
-cell therapists used Beef Kidney for Diabetes from Kidney deficiency.

Bladder
Cow, Sheep
-incontinence; excessive Urination (West)
-Sheep bladder ashed and taken with water and vinegar is good for uncontrollable urination, and incontinence

Spleen
Cow
-Spleen tonic; poor digestion and sluggish bowels
-hardness and swelling of the Spleen
-used by cell therapists to improve blood quality; promote the healing of old wounds; also to desensitize allergic conditions such as chronic asthma, hay fever, urticaria, abdominal swellings, dermatitis, and gastric or duodenal ulcers.

Rennet
-Poison and venomous Bites (Sheep, Rabbit etc.; Salmon, Schroder)
-Dissolves congealed Blood, has been used for Cancer (Salmon)

Heart, Liver & Lungs of a Calf
-Distilled water or decoction has been used for emaciation, debility, consumption and paralysis of the extremities

Bile
Bull Bile was said to be strongest of all Animals in the West; Chicken was said to be best of Birds. Bile of various animals is used.
In TCM and Tibetan Medicine, Bear Bile is traditionally preferred and was likewise highly praised in Europe, However it is now replaced with the Bile of other animals, especially Cow Bile. It is dried for use.

Avicenna said “The gall bladder of quadrupeds is considered stronger” … “The choicest gall bladders are those which are yellow in colour while verdigris and lazuli coloured bladders are in- ferior. Similarly those which are red are also inferior”

“Dioscorides advised that the gall bladder should be bound on both sides when it is boiled in water for a period of time in which three meals are taken by a man. It should then be taken out and left to dry in a shadowy place. When it becomes moistureless, it should be preserved for future use”. (Avicenna)

General
-Used for Eye disorders; topically to Styes
-“All types of gall bladder are useful in the darkness of the sight”. (Avicenna)
-Clears Heat and Poison: Fevers
-“The gall bladder of male goats from hilly areas and Oxen act as antidotes in cases of bites” (Avicenna)
-“Every kind of gall bladder … is laxative and purgative; specially so when it is massaged on umbilicus or used as a pessary”. (Avicenna)

Bull / Oxe bile:
-Clears Heat and Toxin: Fever, Measles, Small Pox
-Clears Heat, Stops Cough: Whooping Cough
-Clears Heat, Brightens the Eyes; it can be mixed with breast milk
-Applied to Hemorrhoids
-for constipation, made into pills with Aloe
-Dropped into the ears for Deafness, Tinnitus and Ear ache
-Applied to the umbilicus for Constipation or Worms in children
-‘cures the Black Leprosy, and Dandruff in the head, Knits, and Moles and Freckles in women, which they are troubled with because they are with child’.
-Bull bile mixed with alcohol is applied topically for Lumbago
-mixed with Vinegar and applied to fistulas

Goat Bile
-applied with Honey for dimness, poor eyesight, growths on the eye
-“The gall bladder of goats, specially from hilly regions, are useful in cases of night-blindness” (Avicenna)
-applied in Ointments to Elephantiasis (Avicenna)
-Asthma (TCM)

1. Asthma
Fresh Goat bile 1 oz., Honey 2 oz.
Steam for 1-2 hours until a suitable consistency. Take one tablespoon morning and evening until well. (TCM, Barefoot Doctors Manual)

Pig Bile
-clears Heat; Fevers including Typhoid
-Purgative and diuretic
-‘discusses’ Struma (scrofula etc.) (Schroder)
-promotes healing of Bones; Gout (Salmon)
-topically to evil sores
-topically for red eyes, conjunctivitis
-dissolved in vinegar and applied to Erysipelas

1. Extract of Ox-Bile
Ox bile, any quantity; dilute with an equal quantity of water, then boil, skim, strain through cloth, then evaporate in a water-bath to an extract.
2. Bitter Pills of Ox-bile
Ox bile extract, Gentian, Rhubarb (3 drams each), Iron (1 dram)
Make into pills of 2 grains. Dose: 8–12. (Pharmacopoeia extemporanea, Augustin, 1822)
3. Constipation.
Pig’s Bile, Vinegar
These are mixed and injected into the rectum. It clears undigested food, hard feces and toxins. (TCM, Shang Han Lun)
4. To Heal Fractures
Pig Bile, Salt, Oil, Vinegar, Tar and Turpentine
Make a paste to be applied topically. Also applied to painful Gout. (Salmon)
5. To Stop Hair Growing
Mix Pig Bile with Lard, one-third the amount of Vinegar, and as much Oil of Almonds. Anoint on to hinder the growth of hair. (Schroder)

Sheep Bile
-with Honey for Epilepsy
-applied to the navel of children to loosen the belly
-‘cures the Carcinoma (anointed)’ (Schroder)
-Eye diseases, dimness of Sight

Goose Bile:
-applied to Eye growths; with Honey for eye contusions
-dropped into the ears for Deafness
-Fever (TCM)
-said to aid conception (Magic of Kirani).

1. DEAFNESS.
Goose Bile with Bull’s Bile is dropped into the ears for deafness (Salmon)
2. PESSARY to AID CONCEPTION.
Goose Bile, Juices of Horehound and Knotgrass
Helps conception in women, and increases ‘tension’ (of the erection) in men. (Magic of Kirani)

Rabbit Bile
-Clears Heat and Poison: Epidemic Fevers, Jaundice, Spasms, Convulsions etc.
-‘the Gall [Bile] drunken with vinegar is good for poisoning and venom’.
-insomnia, madness, frenzy, Melancholy (West).
-in pessaries to promote Conception, expel a Dead Child, or promote Menstruation. (Magic of Kirani)
-Recent research has shown Rabbit Bile to be useful and effective as a substitute for Bear Bile.
-Clears Heat, Benefits the Eyesight-poor or failing sight, Blindness, Webs in the Eye; also Deafness (topically) (Salmon)

Blood
Calf, Bull, Goat, Duck, Goose
“The blood of human beings and that of a swine is similar in all respects to each other … The blood which is used in medicines must be taken from healthy animals“. (Avicenna)

General
-Various types of Blood are used against Poison (Duck, Goose)

Cow Blood
-used for all types of Bleeding (Salmon)

Chicken Blood
-blood from under the wing is dropped in for Eye pain. (TCM)

Duck Blood
-Antidote (West; for poisoning of Arsenic and Metals in TCM)
-Dysentery in children
-Apoplexy, sudden collapse, Liver heat headaches (TCM)

Goose Blood
-Antidote to poison herbs, venomous Bites and toxic Minerals (including Cinnabar) (TCM, West)
-Tumors, Cancer (TCM); Goose Blood pills and syrup have been used in China for this purpose.

1. Esophageal Cancer
‘The fresh blood of a Goose is used: 10-15 mls. of blood is taken from the vein of a Goose wing and given morning and night, for 20-30 days. This has been used to enhance immune function, and has bought symptomatic relief in some patients. (Cancer Treatment with Fu Zheng Pei Ben Principle)
2. Stomach Cancer
A Goose (or white Duck) is freshly beheaded and the warm blood is taken; this is repeated once or twice weekly. (Anti-Cancer Medicinal Herbs, Chang Minyi, Hunan Science & Technology Press, 1992)

Goat Blood
-Goat Blood is a special remedy to promote urine and clear Stones; used in Edema, Gravel, It is the primary ingredient in Stone Breaking Powder (Lithontripticon) of Nicholas)
-salts of Goat Blood were used to move the Blood and ease pain
-also given for Pleurisy (Culpeper, Salmon)
-given against Poison
-Dysentery

1. ‘The Blood of a She Goat heated over the fire and eaten, cures Dysenteric persons, and effectually saves them that have drank Poisonous potions, and perfectly cures people of the Dropsy’. (Magic of Kirani)

Pig Blood
-Convulsions, Dementia (TCM)
-‘Antidote to all Poisons’; (West, TCM, Tibetan)
-sudden persistent hemorrhage

Sheep Blood
-Epilepsy (Wirtzung)
-it has been mixed with Sheep Bile for Epilepsy

Deer Blood
-A blood and kidney tonic; Backache, Fractures, Impotence. (TCM)
-Lung weakness, Hematemesis, and Pleurisy. (TCM)
-‘The Powder of Deers blood given to 1 dram is commended to expel the Stone’ (Medicina Practica: or Practical Physick, Salmon, 1692)
-it was used in Europe as Goats Blood.
-‘Its blood strengthens the Womb’. (Lexicon of Alchemy… Martinus Rulandus, Frankfurt, 1612)
-“Blood taken from a young Deer is stated to keep the breasts in proper shape”. (Avicenna)
-The Dried blood was taken for Epilepsy. (West, Wirtzung)
-The Salt’s of Stags blood were used to ease pain; boiled in oil, it was used for Sciatica and pain of the sides (Schroder).
-Resist Poison; used against Snake bites.

Rabbit Blood
“The blood of a rabbit is Hot”. (Avicenna)
-difficult labor.
-Taken with tea powder and olibanum for Angina Pectoris. (TCM)
-Taken in wine, it is Alexipharmic (Antidote) (Salmon)
-Blood is used in Unani for Bilious Remittent Fevers.
-ashes of the blood and skin is used for Bloody Fluxes, Dysentery, and Stones
–Fioravanti (1659) said the powder ‘helps those much’ who have Gravel and Stones.
-‘Its blood applied hot, perfectly cures Gouty feet. applied hot to the loins, it cures the Stone in the Kidneys’. (Magic of Kirani)
-Applied warm cures Sunspots, Vitiligines, Lentigines (Dioscorides).
-The warm blood of a Hare, steeped in cloth and the cloth dried is applied externally over an Erysipelas; ‘An odd and often tried medicine’. (Medicinal Experiments, R. Boyle, 1696)

Feces

Various animal and Bird Feces are used in both Eastern and Western Traditions.
Sometimes dried, or ashed, or distilled.

Cow Dung
-tincture was used for hot diseases including Asthma, coughs; also for fever, gout.
-Salts of Cow Dung is excellent for Dropsy. (Salmon)
-topical to minor strains, sprains and bruises; also burns and inflammations.
-good application to gout and joint pain
-applied to boils and abscesses (often with vinegar)
-applied to Bee stings
-applied to alopecia, and to prevent the hair from falling out.

Pig Dung
-Convulsions (Salmon)
-ashed is given for Sciatica (Salmon)
-‘Antidote to all Poisons’ (West, TCM)
-Dried Boars dung was used in the West for spitting of blood, and other types of bleeding (Schroder, Salmon);
-Ash was taken in TCM for Menorrhagia and externally, it was used as a styptic also.
-topically for Erysipelas, Burns and Scalds; applied to Squinsey. (West)

1. Diarrhea and Dysentery
Dry and burn Pig dung to grey (not white) ashes. Dose: 0.5 dram, and take 3 spoonfuls of wine vinegar after them.

Sheep Dung
-internally for hot diseases including Jaundice, Dropsy, Gravel, Gout, Pleurisy, Spleen pain, and Fevers.
-Epilepsy and Melancholy (West)
-decoction was also used for Whooping cough.
-In TCM, it has been used similarly for Dysentery, Convulsions, and to promote urine and feces.
-Externally it was applied to Warts, Corns, Ulcers, Boils, Tumors, Boils in the Ears etc.
-applied to all kinds of swellings, including swellings and tumors of the Breast, and all hard tumors of the skin.
-applied with vinegar to Gout, and to burns (powdered and sprinkled on) (Schroder, Salmon).
-applied to Baldness and Alopecia.

1. Jaundice
Decoct with Parsley (Schroder)
2. Another for Jaundice
With Celandine, Turmeric, Earthworms, Century, Chicory (Bates)
3. Baldness
An Extract in Water of the burnt feces is applied to the scalp ‘no more than 10 times will produce growth of the hair which will turn black’.

Goat Dung
-taken in wine for Jaundice or difficulty Urinating
-promotes Menstruation, cleanses Afterbirth
-decoction has been used for Asthma
-with vinegar to stop Bleeding (Dioscorides)
-burnt and mixed with vinegar it is applied to Alopecia
-mixed with fat (pig) for Gout (arthritis). (Dioscorides)
-mixed with vinegar as an application to Buboes, Tumors, Hardness
-mixed with honey and applied to draw poison from venomous bites.

1. Scrofula
Goats Dung mixed with honey and vinegar is applied as a poultice.
2. Migraine
Goat’s Dung is mixed with Vinegar of Squill and anointed on the head and temples. (London, 1750)
3. All types of Bleeding
‘Take dried Goats dung, stamp it to a powder, and drink thereof, it does not only stay the Menstrual Fluxes in women, but also all kinds of Bleeding’. (Wirtzung)

Rabbit Dung
-Incontinence (Lazarus Riverius)
-dung dissolved in warm wine cures desperate Sciatica and Colic pains.
-‘Beaten with Pepper and drunk, it cures the stone in the Kidneys’ (Magic of Kirani).
-Fevers and various toxins. (West, TCM)
-Hyperemia (TCM)
-Kills intestinal parasites. (TCM)
-Mixed with Vinegar and applied to make hair grow (West);
-Clears the Vision; used for corneal opacity and films in TCM.

Pigeon Dung
Its dung was considered the hottest of all fowls.
-Abdominal swellings, constipation, and Epigastric pains from coldness.
-In Europe, it was used for pain of the stomach, colic, swellings and edema.
-Scrofula, Ulcers, Tetanus; used for ‘obscure’ infections in TCM (Read)
-Ashed and applied to scabies.
-washed in vinegar, then ashed and applied to itchy or ulcerated skin.
-washed in warm water, then roasted and applied to Carcinomas (TCM, Read).
-In Europe it was applied externally with vinegar to Boils, Abscesses, Scrofula and Tumors, and Shingles (Salmon). -Applied with grease to Alopecia.
-In Europe it was taken for Headache, Migraine, Pleurisy, Stones, and Apoplexy.
-Traditionally used for Edema, Stones, and Gout.

Chicken Dung
-Used the same as Pigeons Dung, but not as strong. (Salmon)
-Resists Poison-‘Drunk in temperate wine, it is good for them that have eaten poisonous Mushrooms‘ (Magic of Kirani).
-In Ayurveda, a paste made of Chicken dung is applied to the place bitten by a Rabid Dog.

1. Hysteria.
Dried Chicken Dung is powdered, and a pinch is given in a prune. Said to be a ‘Quick Remedy’. (Albertus)
2. Pleurisy.
The white Dung of a Hen was dissolved in 1 dram of Carduss water.

Duck Dung:
-applied with egg white to painful boils
-internally for hard swellings of the Breast
-overuse of Mineral Drugs (TCM)
-Venomous Bites (Salmon)

Goose Dung:
-promotes Urine in Edema, Jaundice (Schroder, Salmon)
-Chlorosis, Amenorrhea; promotes Birth and expels Afterbirth (Schroder, Salmon)
-taken with Wine for Cough (Schroder)

1. Abscesses
‘Keep an old Gander fasting 3 days; then give him pieces of an Eel new killed, and preserve his dung; you have a present remedy for all impostumes’. (The Secrets of Art and Nature)
2. Jaundice
‘the Dung of a Green Goose that eats grass in the Spring and the dried White Dung of a Hen, given for 3 days to the quantity of 0.5 dram or a dram’. (Lazarus Riverius)
3. Edema.
‘Green dung of Geese, the weight of 1 dram, with 1 spoonful of the Distilled Urine of a Goat or Calf, being drunk, and the dose repeated often, wonderfully dries. For this is manifest in all of them, that is, wheresoever Geese-dung, and Goats, or Calves urine falls upon the Earth, they cause that place to be wholly dry and parched, in like manner, therefore it takes away the superfluous humidity in the Body’. (Royal Chemistry, 1670)
4. QUERCETANS POWDER AGAINST JAUNDICE.
Goose dung, gathered in the Spring, and
dried in the Sun; Sugar Candy 1 oz. ea.
Powder them. Dose: 1-2 drams, taken with Rhenish Wine for 3 or 4 days, perfectly cures it; Bates version added 0.5 dram of Saffron to the above; the dose is 2 drams with Wine for 6 days. (Salmon)

Animal Organs and Byproducts

Animal Organs and By-products

See also

Contact Us