Cowrie shell

Concha veneris
Karpardaka, Kapardik (Ayurveda)
‘gron bu  འགྲོན་བུ  (Tibetan Medicine)
Zi Bei Chi 紫貝齒 or Bei Zi (TCM)
Kharmohra (Unani)
Kawry (Arabic)
Picture Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578

Picture Cypraea moneta (Money Cowrie)
Photo by Liez  

Zoological name:
Cypraea spp. / Mauritia spp.
Ayurvedic texts mention 3 types of Cowrie: White, Red, Yellow. A Purple variety is preferred in TCM.
A number of different species are used, including:
  1. Cypraea moneta (syn. Monetaria moneta, the Money Cowrie)
  2. Cypraea lynx
  3. Cypraea tigris
  4. Cypraea annulus (syn. Monetaria annulus)
  5. Mauritia arabica (Arabic Cowry), M. mauritania
  6. Erosaria caputserpentis, E. helvola, E. erosa

Parts used:


Shell; Calcined Shell (Bhasma)

Temperature & Taste:


Neutral/slightly Cool, dry. Sweet, Salty

Constituents:


Calcium carbonate, Calcium flouride, Calcium phosphate, Magnesium phosphate, Manganese chloride, Sodium chloride
Organic matter (less than 0.5%); traces of Alkaloids, Cardiac glycosides, Flavonoids and Saponins have been reported.
Traces of Zinc (1.5ppm), Iron (113ppm), Manganese (19ppm), Boron, Copper, Molybdenum
The calcined product is mainly composed of Calcium oxide

Uses:


1. Clears Stomach Heat: (Ayurveda, West, Unani)
-Hyperacidity, Abdominal pain, Gastritis, Indigestion
-Burning sensation

2. Calms the Liver, Settles Wind, Clears Heat: (TCM)
-Dizziness, Vertigo
-Palpitations, Insomnia, Irritability
-Childhood Convulsions, Epilepsy

3. Stops Bleeding, Benefits the Uterus: (West, Unani)
-Bleeding from excess Heat; Menorrhagia, Metrorrhagia
-Threatened Miscarriage
-has been used as an adjunct for Infertility
-considered a guiding medicine to the Uterus

4. Clears Heat and Damp, Promotes Urine: (Tibetan Medicine, TCM)
-Edema (Tibetan), Urinary obstruction (TCM)
-Burning Urine, Gonorrhea
-Jaundice, Liver or Spleen swelling
-Lymph accumulations; Tumors
-said to resolve Hardness
-also to dry excess Pus
-Eczema

5. Clears Heat, Brightens the Eyes: (Tibetan Medicine, Unani, TCM)
-redness, heat, tearing and burning of the eyes (internally and as a collyrium)
-darkness of the sight
-superficial visual obstructions; Cataracts
-very fine powder can be applied directly in eye drops or as a collyrium
-the burnt powder is applied to Nebula

6. Clears Heat and Poison:
-Fever with Chills
-‘disperses invading pathogens in the muscles and eliminates accumulations of Heat’. (Ming Yi Bie Lu, TCM)


COWRIE BHASMA:
-Dyspepsia, abdominal pain, bloating
-Jaundice, enlarged Liver or Spleen, Liver disease
-Abdominal masses
-Cough, Asthma


Dose:


Finely levigated Powder: 300mg–1 gram
Decoction: 6–15 grams; they are crushed and boiled for 30–45 minutes before adding herbs
The fine powder suspended in water can be used as eye drops.

Comment:


1. In the West there was a focus on it being used for women’s diseases while TCM has the focus on its settling effect on the Liver, and to benefit the Eyes, as well as for Diuresis. It has been used in East and West for Eye disorders and for Stomach Heat.
2. Raw and Calcined Cowrie are used. Calcining facilitates powdering, especially when a very fine powder is required such as to make eye drops. In India, the Bhasma (ash) has some other uses, as noted above.
3. The standard product is white and purplish. According to Chinese texts, the white part enters the Qi while the Purple part enters the Blood.

Preparation:


PURIFICATION:
1. In Ayurveda, the shells are purified (cleansed) by being soaked for 3 hours in Lime or Lemon juice, or Rice Congee (sour gruel).
LEVIGATED / PISHTI:
1. The shells are well levigated with Rose water until an extremely fine powder is formed.
CALCINATION:
1. They are fired in covered crucibles, repeating 10 or 12 times until well reduced. (Ayurveda)
2. They are heated in a covered crucible until red hot, then quenched to facilitate pulverising (TCM)
3. They can also be made into a Bhasma.

Main Combinations:


Digestion, Hyperacidity
1. Hyperacidity, Abdominal pain, Gastritis, Cowrie shell, Pearl, Coral, Oyster shell, Conch shell (as in Mouktikayukta)
2. Indigestion, loss of appetite, stomach pain from low digestive fire:
i. Cowrie shell ash (5 parts), prepared Aconitum (2 parts), Black Pepper (9 parts), formed into 2 grain pills (Amrita Vati of Ayurveda)
ii. Cowrie shell ash, Pomegranate fruit, Greater and Lesser Cardamon, Cinnamon, Inula racemosa, Chebula, Ginger, Long Pepper, Costus, Rock Salt (as in Pomegranate 25 of Tibetan Medicine)
iii. Cowrie shell ash, Conch shell ash, Black Pepper, Ginger, Embelia ribes, Triphala, Papaya (as in the patent medicine Gastrim)
3. Colic, Intestinal disorders, Cowrie shell, Borax, Rock Salt, Asafetida, Caraway

Head, Spirit, Wind diseases
4. Dizziness, Vertigo, Palpitations:
i. Cowrie shell, Oyster shell, Abalone shell (TCM
ii. from Liver Wind, Cowrie shell, Oyster shell, Hematite, Peaonia Bai Shao
5. Insomnia, Irritability, Palpitations:
i. Cowrie shell, Zizyphus semen Suan Zao Ren, Poria Fu Shen (TCM)
ii. Cowrie shell with Zizyphus semen Suan Zao Ren, Rehmannia Sheng Di, Ophiopogon Mai Men Dong
6. Anxiety, Panic attacks from Liver Wind unsettling the Spirit, Cowrie shell with Dragon Bone (Long Gu), Magnetite (Ci Shi), Poria Sclerotum Fu Shen
7. Childhood Convulsions, Epilepsy:
i. Cowrie shell, Mistletoe, Peony, Pearl, Amber
ii. Febrile convulsions, Cowrie shell, Gastrodia Tian Ma, Uncaria Gou Teng, Gypsum Shi Gao, Antelope horn (Ling Yang Jiao) (TCM)
iii. chronic convulsions from deficiency, Cowrie shell with Codonopsis Dang Shen, Atractylodes Bai Shu, Gastrodia Tian Ma

Threatened Miscarriage, Bleeding
8. Threatened Miscarriage, calcined Cowrie shell with Ivory, Aloeswood, Sandalwood, Tabasheer, Red Coral, Doronicum, Red Earth, Mastic (Powder of Muhafiz Janeen of Unani)
9. Hemoptysis, Bleeding from Heat, Cowrie shell ash, Amber, Red Coral, Pearl, Poppy seed, Gum Arabic, Tragacanth, Henbane seed (Troches of Amber More Compound of Unani)

Eyes
10. Sore, red, burning or tearing eyes:
i. Cowrie shell, Chrysanthemum Ju Hua, Gardenia Zhi Zi (TCM)
ii. Cowrie shell, Chrysanthemum Ju Hua, Self Heal (Xia Ku Cao), Celosia Qing Xiang Zi, (TCM)
iii. Cowrie shell, Amber, Pearl
iv. As a collyrium, Cowrie shell, Mother of Pearl, Areca catechu, triturated well together with water and applied to the eyes for excess tearing, burning sensation, and ‘darkness’ of the eyes (Unani)
11. Nebula, Blurred Vision:
i. burned Cowrie shell, add a little Borneo Camphor (Bing Pian); apply to the eye
ii. Cowrie shell with Horsetail (Mu Zei), Snake Slough (She Tui)

Other:
12. Palpitations, Cowrie with Monther of Pearl, Coptis Huang Lian
13. Dysuria, grind Cowrie shell and Burnt Cowrie shell (one of each) to powder and take with wine. (Tian Shi Fang, TCM)

Major Formulas:


Amrita Vati (Ayurveda)
Mauktika Yukta (Pearl Compound) (Ayurveda)
Muhafiz Janeen (Unani)
Troches of Amber More Compound (Unani)

Cowrie Ash 6 (Mgron thal drug pa) 
Cowrie Ash 8 (‘Gron thal brgyad pa)
Great Precious Hot Compound (Rin chen tsha sbyor chen mo)
Greater Universal Women’s Disease Conqueror (Mo nad spyi ‘joms chen mo) (Tibetan)
Pacific 29 (Zhyi byed 29)
Pomegranate 25 (Se bru 25) (Tibetan)
Tumor Destroying Lunar Pill (Skran ‘joms zla bsil) (Tibetan)

Cautions:


Not used in cold and weak digestion

Main Preparations used:


Bhasma / Kushta

1. KUSHTA of COWRIE. (Unani)
  Yellow Cowrie shell               250 grams
  Aloe juice                                250 mls.
Burn the Cowries, powder, mix with the juice, form 10 gram tablets, then seal and burn in a sealed flask or container with 10 kg. of Cow dung cakes.
  Used as a Brain and Nerve tonic, and a general body tonic. Used for Catarrh, Chronic Bronchitis, Diarrhea, and Anemia. Topically, it is used for Earache (mixed with Lemon juice and dropped in), Eye diseases (topically), Skin diseases including Leukoderma (with Saltpeter); the ash may be mixed with butter and applied to skin blemishes, and to improve complexion.
Dose: 125mg.
1. ISOLATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND IMMUNOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON FIBROUS PROTEINS FROM COWRY SHELL (CYPRAEA MONETA, LINNAEUS)