Chicken Egg
Centrum Ovi: Egg Yolk.Cerebrum Arietis: Egg White.
Alumen Philosophorum: Lime of Egg Shells.
Dioscorides Materia Medica, Mathias, 1563Zoological name:
Gallus domesticus
Parts used:
Whole Egg, Egg shell, ashes of Egg Shell, Egg Yolk, Egg White
Temperature & Taste:
“The eggs (as a whole) are moderate. The white and the yolk are inclined to be Cold and Hot respectively, but both of them are Moist especially the white”. (Avicenna)
Whole Egg: Neutral, Sweet
Egg White: Cool, moist. Sweet
Egg Yolk: Warm, moist. Sweet
Egg Shell Inner Membrane: Neutral, moist. Sweet
Egg Shell: Cold, dry. Salty
Uses:
WHOLE EGG
1. Calms the Heart (TCM):
-palpitations from blood and Qi deficiency, or from deficient heat;
-‘it attenuates and beautifies an Artery‘ (Magic of Kirani).
2. Tonifies the Blood, Qi and Yin (TCM, West):
-deficiency of blood and Yin; beneficial for those who are dry, anemic, and blood deficient.
-dryness, especially of the Lungs or Throat marked by a dry, hacking cough.
-restorative in consumption (TCM)
3. Clears Heat and Inflammation:
-epidemic fevers when the body is too hot: take 3 eggs beaten up with honey.
-listed it for inflammations (Magic of Kirani)
4. Benefits Pregnancy, Calms the Fetus:
-diseases which occur during pregnancy; tonic during pregnancy, and is used to prevent miscarriage;
-‘14 eggs taken at one time to cure bleeding during pregnancy‘ (TCM, Ben Cao Kang Mu);
-restless fetus with much movement, an for postpartum thirst (TCM);
-‘an Egg new laid, tied about a woman, hastens travel (labor)‘ (Magic of Kirani).
EGG SHELLS
1. Clears Stomach Heat:
-Antacid; used for acid regurgitation, belching and Stomach pain
2. Promotes Urine, Clears Stones:
-powder for difficulty urinating
-the Salt or Powder of the Shells were used for Stones (Salmon)
-In TCM, the Shell has been used as a diuretic; also used for Leukorrhea.
-Conversely, the Bhasma (ashes) has also been used for Incontinence and Excessive Urination in Ayurveda.
-Incontinence (Riverius)
3. Stop Bleeding:
-excess Menstruation and other types of Bleeding (Bhasma or ashes).
4. Strengthens the Bones:
-Osteoporosis, Rickets. (TCM)
5. Cancer:
-‘Sir Spencer Wells, twenty years ago, recorded some cases of confirmed cancer cured by taking powdered and triturated oyster shells; whilst egg shells similarly reduced to a fine dust have proved equally efficacious’. (Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure, W. T. Fernie, M.D., 1897)
6. Externally:
-Applied to eczema, sores, boils
-cataract and other eye diseases. (Very finely levigated)
-used in Tooth Powders
EGG SHELL INNER MEMBRANE
1. Nourishes the Lung Yin, Stops Cough:
-chronic cough, hoarse voice due to dry, sore throat.
-tuberculosis of the lymph nodes.
2. Externally:
-Powdered and blown or snuffed into the nose for ‘Pink Eye‘
-externally for dermal ulcers. (TCM, West)
-applied to Styes; Hartman (Practical Chymistry, 1670) said this was effective for Cancer of the Eye.
EGG WHITES
1. Clears heat, Resists Poison:
-Good for the heat of fevers
-long used as an antidote to Poisons. Even in modern times, it is used for poisoning by the Salts of Heavy Metals.
2. Externally:
-Applied, it keeps the face from sunburning.
-Applied to Burns, Scalds and Pimples;
-anointed on to stop burns blistering.
-“The white of an egg is painted over sun-burns”. (Avicenna)
-Applied to the scalp to remove Dandruff and lessen grease.
-Dropped into the eyes, it lenifies them.
3. Used in Pharmacy:
Egg white and Albumin have been used to clarify liquids such as decoctions and vinious liquids, and is still used to refine sugar.
EGG YOLK:
1. Nourishes the Yin, Moistens Dryness, Calms Wind:
-added to decoctions in TCM to moisten and nourish the Yin/moisture to enable it to thereby calm wind;
-restlessness, insomnia, headache, convulsions, palpitations etc. (TCM)
-“Both parts (the yolk and the white) of an egg soften the nerves and are useful in all kinds of Arthralgia”. (Avicenna)
-Lecithin is given for Tuberculosis, Psychoses, mental disturbances and Neurasthenia is recent times; good for mental and nervous exhaustion. (Merc Index)
2. Clears Heat, Benefits the Liver:
-laxative in jaundice and Liver obstruction (West).
-In TCM, it is used to aid in Hepatitis, as well as dysentery, and hernia.
–Salmon listed it for all fluxes, and gonorrhea.
3. Stops Cough, Nourishes the Lungs:
-hot, dry, or Yin deficient coughs.
-used with mucilage and syrup as an emulsion for coughs, and hoarseness etc.
4. Nutritional Tonic:
-both Egg Yolk and Lecithin have been recommended for nutritional disorders of children, and for Rickets (after 2 months of age);
-debility and weakness in general; good for anemia.
-“All kinds of Eggs especially of the Sparrows are highly Aphrodisiac”. (Avicenna)
5. Used in Pharmacy:
-Also used to render oils and camphor etc. mixable in water; an emulsifier.
6. Externally:
-Applied to ulcers, boils, and to remove scars.
-Good for griefs of the Eyes (Dioscorides)
-used for Boils, Burns and Scalds in TCM.
-“Roasted Yolk of an Egg, mixed with Honey, is also used as a paint for Freckles and other Black Spots”. (Avicenna)
-mixed with Lime or Mercury oxide, it is applied to Plague buboes and boils to promote suppuration. (Unani)
OIL OF EGG YOLKS
1. Cleanses filthy skin and clears the heat from it; Pimples, Itching, Sores
2. Used for chaps, pustules, excoriations, ring worm, fistulas, malignant ulcers.
3. Causes hair to grow; applied to Alopecia; makes the hair Black
4. Its special use, which has popped up in various texts over the past few hundred years, is for all types of burns and scalds.
5. Relieves all pain
6. Applied to Wounds including Gun Shot wounds.
7. Applied to Hemorrhoids to ease their pain
8. In China the oil has been used internally for infantile vomiting and diarrhea (oil from 2 yolks being given to a 1–2 year old)
Dose:
1. “The hard boiled eggs are slower to digest. Half boiled eggs are more nutritive and quick in digestion”. (Avicenna)
Whole Eggs, or Egg Yolks: 2 per day for 1–2 weeks, then 1-3 each week thereafter
Dried Inner Membrane of an Egg Shell: 3–9 grams in decoction
Egg Shell Ashes: 1–3 grams
Main Combinations:
WHOLE EGG, EGG YOLK:
1. Against Epidemics, Measles, Poison and Plague, and to protect the Heart from Poison: blow the white out of an Egg, replace it with Saffron and seal the Egg. Roast the Egg in ashes until the shell looks black (careful not to burn the Saffron). Powder the contents, then add White Dittany, Tormentil, Myrrh, Deer horn, roots of Butterbur, Angelica, Burnet, Zedoary, Juniper berries, Camphor; powder and form an Electuary with Syrup of Lemons. (as in Electuary of Eggs)
2. Bleeding during Pregnancy, take 2 Eggs with Rice congee.
3. Emollient Enema:
i. decoct Bran, strain and when luke-warm add an egg yolk. (Memorial Pharmaceutique, 1824)
ii. infused Rose oil, infused Camomile oil (3 oz. each), with 2 Egg Yolks.
iii. Olive oil, Egg Yolks
4. Heat and Throbbing of the Eye:
i. Plaster with Barley flour is applied around the Eyes
ii. “its yolk mixed with Saffron and rose oil, is very useful in the throbbing of the Eye”. (Avicenna)
EGG WHITE:
1. Ointment of Egg Whites: mix Egg White with Oil of Roses. ‘It is one of the best remedies against burnings, inflammations &c.‘ (Bateana) Also Erysipelas, Cramps, Gout.
2. Eye Wounds, mix Egg White, Rose water, Alum and Saffron and apply as a plaster.
3. Spots and Wrinkles of the face, stir powdered Alum with Egg White until well mixed, then heat while constantly stirring to form an Ointment. This is applied twice daily for several days to make the skin fair and clear.
4. Sunburn, Burns:
i. mix Egg White with fresh Aloe gel and apply.
ii. mix Egg White with Nightshade water and Violet water
5. “It is painted with Olive Oil on Erysipelas”. (Avicenna)
6. Intestinal Ulcers, make an enema with Egg White and decoction of Meliot. (Avicenna)
EGG SHELL:
1. Egg shell with Talcum as a diuretic (TCM)
2. Urinary Retention, decoct Egg shell, Barley and Parsley. (West)
3. Excess Menstruation, Egg Shell ashes, Frankincense, Mastic, Pearls, Red Coral, Amber, Hematite (Riverius)
4. Tooth Powder to whiten the Teeth, with Coral, Silk ashes, Cinnamon, Pellitory of Spain, Clove
Major Formulas:
E Jiao Ji Zi Huang Tan
Huang Lian E Jiao Tang
Cautions:
1. Eggs can cause excess phlegm and dampness in prone people. The whites in particular are hard of digestion; this is remedied by eating the yolks alone.
2. According to Ayurveda, Eggs are Incompatible with: Milk, Yoghurt, Cheese; Melons, Bananas; Meat, Fish.
Main Preparations used:
Oil of Egg Yolks, Distilled Water of Egg White
1. Oil of Egg Yolk:
The Oil of Egg Yolks is a special medicine that appears in various medicine Traditions.
i. Egg are hard boiled, then the hard yolks are separated and put into a wok or large pan and heated while stirring. When they start to burn, and oil will separate which can be collected. A little hot water can be added to facilitate separation, the oil floating on top. 50 Egg Yolks will yield up to 5 oz. of oil.
ii. Put fresh Egg Yolks into a silver pan, boil till reduced to one half in a water-bath, so that when presses between the fingers the oil separates; put the mass in a linen bag and express between heated plates, then filter at the heat of a water-bath through bibulous paper.
iii. some mixed the hard boiled yolks with alcohol, heated them in a covered vessel, filter, distil off the alcohol, then separate the oil from the water. But this leaves a smell of alcohol and reportedly goes rancid more quickly.