Viper, Bai Hua She 白花蛇
Agkistrodon, Qi She 蕲蛇
Zaocys, Black Striped Snake, Wu Shao She 乌梢蛇
Bungarus, Jin Qian Bai Hua She 金钱白花蛇
Sbrul gyi སྦྲུལ་གྱི (Tibetan)
Dioscorides Materia Medica, Mathias, 1563
Ortus Sanitatis, Meydenbach, 1491
Vipera berus (syn. V. communus)(Photo by Bouke ten Cate) (Wikimedia)
Dried Viper (top), Viper with Live Birth, Heart & Liver (center), Troches of Viper (bottom right and left)A Complete History of Drugs, Pomet, London, 1748
One of the larger snakes used as a substitute for the smaller ‘White Flower Snake’ (Bai Hua She) in TCM.
Dried Agkistrodon(Chengdu Medicine Market, Adam, 2009) |
Snakes infused in Alcohol, a common method of use throughout Asia. |
Three distinct species are used in TCM in decreasing order of strength:
- Bungarus parvus (‘Bai Hua She‘, Jin Qian Bai Hua She)
- Agkistrodon acutus (‘Bai Hua She‘, Qi She)
- Zaocys dhumnades (Wu Shao She)
In the West, the Common Viper or European Adder (Vipera communis syn. V. berus) was used, but various other snakes supplied the market in different areas. Pit Vipers were also used. The American Rattlesnake and the Australian Tiger Snake may be used similarly.
Parts used:
Whole dried Snake with head, tail and organs removed (west). TCM retains the head and tail.
It was common in the West to remove all organs except the Heart and Liver.
“The flesh of female serpent is the best while the best slough is obtained from a male serpent”. (Avicenna)
Temperature & Taste:
Warm, dry. Sweet, Salty. Slightly Toxic.
Classifications:
2B ATTENUATERS
3A. SUDORIFICS & DIAPHORETICS. 3C. ALEXIPHARMIC
4k. ARTHRITIC
Uses:
1. Clears Wind, Opens the Channels:
-chronic Wind-Damp joint pain; Arthritis, Rheumatism (West, TCM, Tibet)
-Numbness, Weakness and Cramping of the Limbs (TCM)
-Neuralgia (West); “beneficial in Neuralgia”. (Avicenna)
-Scrofula, Tumors (West)
-‘dissolves coagulated Blood’.
-‘Of extraordinary service in Scrophulas, Leprous, and other obstinate chronic disorders’ (Lewis)
2. Stops Winds, Settles Spasms and Convulsions:
-Spasms, Tremors, Convulsions, Epilepsy, Apoplexy, Seizures, Numbness (West, TCM)
-Paralysis, Facial Paralysis, Hemiplegia (West, TCM, Tibet)
-Vertigo, Dizziness (West)
-Palpitations, Melancholy (West)
3. Clears Wind from the Skin:
-numbness, itching, Dermatosis, Leukoderma, skin rashes, Leprosy (West, TCM)
-Inveterate Ulcers (Pliny), Fistulas
-used to cleanse and beatify the Complexion; used in Europe to beautify the skin
4. Benefits Eyesight: (West)
-poor eyesight; dimness of sight
-‘Soup and flesh of the serpent strengthen the eye-sight’. (Avicenna)
5. Clears Wind, Resists Poison: (West)
-‘Purges the whole body by sweat’
-Plague, Epidemic diseases, Measles, Small Pox; Fevers
-Syphilis (West, Tibet)
-Poison; Venomous Bites including Snakes and Rabid Dogs; Arsenic poisoning
-“When a serpent is cut and placed on its own bite, it gives relief to the pain”. (Avicenna)
6. Benefits Qi and Essence:
-regarded as restorative in weakness, cachexia, wasting and consumption
-‘Some say those that eat them are long lived’ (Dioscorides)
-sometimes used as an Aphrodisiac
-some held it useful to promote Fertility
-“Consumption of the flesh of serpent promotes longevity, strengthens vigour and maintains the senses and youth”. (Avicenna)
7. Externally:
-oil was dropped into the ears warm for Deafness and Tinnitus
-Paralysis, loss of sense and feeling, numbness (apply the oil warm)
-applied to Arthritis, Rheumatism (oil)
-skin diseases including Leprosy (oil)
-ashes were mixed with Honey and applied to the eyelids to improve eyesight.
DIFFERENCES OF THE VIPERS ON THE CHINESE MEDICINE MARKET
Bai Hua She is a generic term used for Agkistrodon and Bungarus species.
The following snakes are all very similar is effect, just their strength varies. Bungarus is most potent, and therefore more suited to pills and powders. Agkistrodon is potent, but not as toxic, and is suitable for regular use. Zaocys is mildest in effect but non-toxic.
As in the West, the use of Snakes and Vipers powerfully settles Wind, and clears the Channels of circulation. Used to treat Wind affecting the Skin, Muscles, Bones, Sinews, Joints and Nerves.
They are listed in descending order of strength:
1. Bungarus multicinctus, Multibanded Krait, Jin Qian Bai Hua She
Most potent and most Toxic.
Dose: 3–6 grams in Decoction, 500–1000mg in powder or pills.
2. Agkistrodon, Qi She
Mildly Toxic.
Dose: 3–9 grams in decoction, 1000–1500mg in pills or powder.
3. Zaocys dhumnades, Black Stripe Snake, Wu Shao She
This has the same effects as the above, although is weaker in effect, and is not toxic.
Dose in Decoction: 4–12 grams; 1–2 grams in pills or powders
Comment:
1. The use of Vipers in the West and in TCM are largely synonymous. The main types used in TCM are also Vipers, specifically, Pit Vipers.
2. ‘The chief characteristic of its flesh is that it swiftly pushes the morbid matters towards skin especially when the person is not “clean” … Consumption of the flesh of serpent promotes longevity, strengthens vigour and maintains the senses and youth’. (Avicenna)
3. The main effect of Viper is to clear Wind, and Wind has been classically claimed to be the root cause of (nearly) all diseases in both TCM and Ayurveda. The main scope of use is for Wind diseases (Spasms, Convulsions, Paralysis), chronic Joint obstruction (Arthritis, Rheumatism), chronic Skin diseases, especially with Itching including Leprosy. In addition, in the West, it was long used against all Poison and Infection including the Plague, and was the main ingredient in the famous Theriac. In the West, it was also viewed as a potent restorative tonic. In short, it was said to clear all that needed cleansing from the Body and to restore the Blood and clear its circulation. Therefore, it is useful in various chronic and obstinate diseases. This is also why it was used to clear the complexion.
4. Salmon, in his Systema Medicinale (1686), quotes Ettmuller on the use of Viper Wine: ‘There is therefore a true Balsam hid in Vipers, and in their Volatile Salt, which renews the Economy of the whole body, and the effect Ferments in the Bowels; it stoutly preserves, and strenuously restores the Vital Fermentation of the Blood. Hence it is that an elegant rejuvenescence usually follows the drinking of Viper Wine’.
Dose:
In Europe, Viper flesh was given in doses of half–1 dram (1.5–3 grams) of Powder.
Bungarus multicinctus (Jin Qian Bai Hua She): 3–6 grams in decoction; 500mg–1 gram in powder.
Agkistrodon acutus (Qi She): 3–9 grams in decoction; 1–1.5 grams in powder.
Zaocys dhumnades (Wu Shao She): 4.5–12 grams in decoction; 1.5–3 grams in powder.
Substitutes:
“The [volatile] Salt and Slough of the Serpent possess properties similar to its flesh.” (Avicenna)
Main Combinations:
WEST:
1. Against Poison, Consumption, Small Pox, Arsenic poisoning, Viper with Angelica, Valerian, Virginian Snakeweed, Contrayerva
2. Against Poison, Epidemic disease:
i. Viper with Aloe, Myrrh, Saffron
ii. and for Measles, Small Pox, etc. Viper with Scorzonera, Angelica, Bistort, Galangal, Gentian, Costus, Sage, Rosemary, Blessed Thistle, Juniper berry (as in Antidotum Orvietanum)
iii. Viper with Cochineal, Cinnabar, Camphor (as in Compound Powder of Cochineal, Salmon, Seplasium, 1693)
iv. Viper with Crabs Claws, Red Coral, Pearl, Amber, Serpentaria root, Contrayerva, Bezoar (as in Bezoardic Balls from Dispensatorium medico pharmaceuticum Palatinatus, 1764)
3. Hectic Fever, Consumption, Cachexia:
i. Viper with Frog, Sage (Riverius)
ii. Viper with Dittany of Crete, Tormentil, Bistort, Swallow-wort, Scorzonera
4. Paralysis, Facial Paralysis, Apoplexy, Neurosis, Scrofula, Viper with Squill, Orris, Garlic, Celery seed, Frankincense, Mastic, Valerian, Gum Arabic, Saffron, Bdellium, made into an Electuary with Ghee and Honey. (Reformed Modern Unani version of Theriac)
5. Jaundice, Viper with Salt of Amber and Saffron
6. Obstinate Skin diseases, Viper (Bai Hua She), Scammony, Nux Vomica prepared, Pyrethrum, Saffron, Scorpion, Aloe, Frankincense (as in Qubaimaribairesi Pills of Uyghur Medicine)
8. Tumors, Cancer, Urinary Stones, Viper with Pill Millipedes
9. To strengthen the Stomach and improve Digestion and increase Appetite, Viper with Fennel seed, Aniseed, Coriander seed, Citron peel, Cinnamon (from French Pharmacopeia, Charras)
10. Aphrodisiac, Viper with Confection of Kermes, Theriac, Borax, Ginger (Nouveau Formulaire Medicale et Pharmaceutique, 1820)
10. Scrofula, Lymphadenitis:
i. “The flesh and soup, prepared after discarding both extremities of the serpent, prevents the growth of scrofula. Similar is the property of its slough.”. (Avicenna)
ii. Viper fat (collected from roasting the snake and collecting the fat) mixed with Capers root-bark powder as an ointment. (The Secrets of Alexis, 1615)
iii. Take a dead Black Snake [a type of Cobra], seal in an earthen jar and heat on a strongh fire. Mix the burnt contents with oil and apply topically. (The Bower Manuscript, Ayurveda)
11. Leprosy, Phthisic, Hedgehog flesh powder (2 oz.), Cardamon, Winter Cherries (0.5 oz.), Viper (1 oz.). Powder and mix. Dose: 1 dram (Salmon)
TCM:
1. Stroke, Facial Paralysis, Hemiplegia, Agkistrodon Bai Hua She with Dang Gui and Scorpion made into a wine.
2. Paralysis, deviation of the mouth, contracted tendons, numbness and arthralgia, Agkistrodon Bai Hua She, Scorpion (1 of each), Dang Gui, Saposhnikovia Fang Feng, Notopterygium Qiang Huo (3 grams each), Angelica pubescens Du Huo, Gastrodia Tian Ma, Paeonia rubra Chi Shao, Cimicifuga Sheng Ma, Licorice (15 grams each). Coarsely powder, put in a cloth bag and soak in wine. A small cupful can be taken twice daily, replacing wine each time to maintain the original amount. (Bin Hu Ji Jian Fang, TCM)
3. Paralysis or Leprosy from Wind, wine-fried Agkistrodon Bai Hua She (120 grams), with Gastrodia Tian Ma (22 grams), Mint (Bo He) (7.5 grams), Schizonepeta Jing Jie (7.5 grams). Boil in Honey and wine until thick, taking a small cupful three times daily with warm water. (Yi Lei Yuan Rong, TCM)
4. Leprosy:
i. Agkistrodon Bai Hua She (6 grams), Zaocys Wu Shao She, Bungarus Jin Qian Bai Hua She (equal parts). Soak in wine, then dry in the sun and powder. Mix with Sophora Ku Shen powder (120 grams). Then cut Gleditsia seed (600 grams), soak in wine, then remove and press to extract their extract. Mix with the powder and form pills the size of Parasol seeds. Take 70 pills as a dose with decoction of Fang Feng Tong Sheng San. Bathe every third day to induce perspiration. (TCM)
ii. Agkistrodon Bai Hua She (6 grams), Zaocys Wu Shao She (6 grams), Realgar (Xiong Huang) (6 grams), Rhubarb (Da Huang) (15 grams). Powder, take 6 grams with hot water once every 3 days. (Jie Gu Jia Zhen, TCM)
5. Migraine, Agkistrodon Bai Hua She (1 oz.), Ariseame Tian Nan Xing (60 grams), Gypsum (Shi Gao) (60 grams), Schizonepeta Jing Jie (60 grams), Lycium Cortex Di Gu Pi (7.5 grams). Powder, take 3 grams with tea three times daily. (Sheng Ji Zong Lu, TCM)
6. Chronic rashes, Agkistrodon Bai Hua She with Dang Gui, Paeonia Bai Sho
7. Chronic skin lesions, Agkistrodon Bai Hua She (5 inch piece) with Realgar (Xiong Huang) (1 ounce), Bitter Almond paste, Hoiney (600 grams each). Form a paste. Dose is 3 grams with warm wine. (San Yin Fang, TCM)
8. Scrofula, Agkistrodon Bai Hua She (60 grams), Rhinoceros horn powder (Xi Jiao, substitute Water Buffalo horn) (37.5 grams), Pharbitis seed (7.5 grams), stir-fried Pharbitis seed (7.5 grams), Citrus Qing Pi (15 grams). Powder. Take 6 grams with Calomel powder (1500mg) and wash take Rice soup early in the morning, taking one dose every 10 days. (San Yin Fang, TCM)
9. Leukoderma, Ginger, Black Pepper, Long Pepper, Snake ashes, Myrobalan, made into an oil for topical use.
10. Syphilitic skin lesions: Agkistrodon Bai Hua She, Turtle shell (Gui Ban), Pangolian Scale stir-fried (Chuan Shan Jia), Wasp nest (Feng Fang), Calomel, Cinnabar (equal parts). Powder, mix with paste of Chinese Red dates (Da Zao) and form pills the size of a Parasol seed. Take 7 pills three times daily with tea. After it has cleared, take decoction of Smilax Tu Fu Ling. (Ben Cao Gang Mu)
11. Promote eruption of Small Pox, Agkistrodon Bai Hua She (9 grams), Cloves (Ding Xiang) (7 pieces). Powder. Take 1500mg with water and wine. After a while the patient becomes feverish which helps force out the Small Pox. (Wang Shi Shou Ji, TCM)
12. Cancer, Agkistrodon Bai Hua She, Toad Venom, Soft Shell Turtle shell, Solomans Seal (Yu Zhu), Saliva Dan Shen, Zedoary, White Dead Silkworm (Bai Jiang Can), Indigo (Qing Dai)
Major Formulas:
Bezoardic Powder of Viper
Troches of Viper
Theriac
Antidotum Orvietanum
Powder for Cancer
Tibetan Medicine:
Blood Breaking 8 (Khrag bshig brgyad pa) (Tibetan)
Clarifying Lloydia 15 (Gsal byed a wa bco lnga) (Tibetan)
Goethite 25 (Mdung rtse nyer lnga) (Tibetan)
Podophyllum 25 (‘Ol se nyer lnga) (Tibetan)
Reed of Comfort (Bde myug)
Elephant 18 (Glang chen 18)
Cautions:
1. Use cautiously in Yin deficiency.
Antidotes:
1. Costus (half-1 dram) with Wormwood wine or decoction
2. Sealed Earth with Tormentil (1 dram each) with wine
3. Theriac or Mithridate (1–2 drams)
4. Round Birthwort, Bay berries, Cassia wood, Pepper (2 drams each), Castoreum (1 dram), Aniseed (half dram), Wild Rue (1.5 drams). Powder and form an Electuary. Dose: 1–2 drams (De venenis, Ramesey, 1663)
Main Preparations used:
Bezoardic Powder of Viper Troches of Viper, Volatile Salt of Viper, Viper Broth
1. Powder of Viper, Bezoardicum Animale (Viperii)
i. remove the Skin, Head and the Tail, and all viscera except the Heart and Liver. Dry in an oven. It will dry quicker and with less smell if dipped in brandy and hung to dry, repeating several times. Alcohol also helps the action move into the Blood.
2. Troches of Viper:
i. Prepare a Viper, boil in water with Salt and Dill until the flesh falls from the bones; beat with one-quarter its weight of dry bread or biscuit, then form Troches. This was the traditional method used by the Greeks. However, later authors rejected it because boiling dissipated the virtue of the Viper.
ii. Prepared Viper in powder; mix with Tragacanth mucilage made with white wine, sufficient to form a stiff paste, from which form Troches. (Pharmacopoeia Gallica, 1818)
3. Viper Broth:
Used primarily for chronic skin diseases.
i. One Viper, head, tail and viscera (except Heart and Liver) removed; cut into pieces, mix with the blood, and add Water (12 oz.). Boil in a closed vessel in a water-bath for 2 hours, strain. (Pharmacopoeia Gallica, 1818)
ii. One large prepared Viper (head, tail and bowels removed); boil with an equal quantity of Tortoise flesh in weak Veal Broth (3 pounds). down to half. (Nouveau Formulaire Medicale et Pharmaceutique, 1820)
iii. One large prepared Viper (head, tail and bowels removed), Chicken (one-quarter), Veal (1 pound), Water (sufficient). Boil in a water-bath for four-five hours, press strongly, adding a scruple of powdered Cinnamon. (Pharmacopoeia Sardoa, 1773)
4. Syrup of Vipers:
i. Prepared Vipers (12), China root, Sarsaparilla (1 oz. each), Water (64 oz.). Boil to 30 ounces, clarify, then add the first 10 oz. to distil over from the following mixture: White Wine, Orange flower water (64 oz. each), Sandalwood, Cinnamon (1 oz. each), Lesser Cardamon, Nutmeg, Aloeswood (3 drams each); Dissolve in the mixture Sugar (8 oz.), and when the Syrup is cold, Tincture of Amber (1 oz.). (Pharmacopoeia Generalis, 1783)
5. Viper Wine
i. Put a medicine sized Viper into a bottle of vodka or spirit. Steep for at least a month.
ii. ‘Take eight Gallons of Sack which is the best Wine, and to that quantity put in thirty, or two and thirty Vipers; but prepare them first in this manner. Put them into bran for some four dayes, which will make them scowre the gravel and eathy part from them, then stop your Vessel or glasse you put them in very close until six months be past, in which time the flesh of the Vipers and vertue of them will be infused into the wine, although the skins will seem full, after which time you may take them out if you please, and drink of the wine when you please best to drink it.’ (Natura exenterata, Philatros, 1655)
Dose: 10–30mls.
GENERAL / REVIEW
–Snake Venoms in Drug Discovery: Valuable Therapeutic Tools for Life Saving
–From Animal Poisons and Venoms to Medicines: Achievements, Challenges and Perspectives in Drug Discovery
–Biomedical applications of snake venom: from basic science to autoimmunity and rheumatology
ANTIBACTERIAL
–Antimicrobials from Venomous Animals: An Overview
–Viperatoxin-II: A novel viper venom protein as an effective bactericidal agent
–Assessment of the Antimicrobial Activity of Few Saudi Arabian Snake Venoms
ANTI-THROMBOTIC / PLATELET AGGREGATION INHIBITION
–Isolation of a Novel Metalloproteinase from Agkistrodon Venom and Its Antithrombotic Activity Analysis
–Bioactive Molecules Derived from Snake Venoms with Therapeutic Potential for the Treatment of Thrombo-Cardiovascular Disorders Associated with COVID-19
–A review on snake venom-derived antithrombotics: Potential therapeutics for COVID-19-associated thrombosis?
–Echistatin. A potent platelet aggregation inhibitor from the venom of the viper, Echis carinatus
DIABETES
–Therapeutic Potential of Peptides Derived from Animal Venoms: Current Views and Emerging Drugs for Diabetes
NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE
–Animal Toxins as Therapeutic Tools to Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases