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| Latin: |
Semen Strychni |
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| Origin: |
Vomiting nut seed is the ripe seed of the woody large vine Strychnos nux-vomica L., or Strychnos pierriana A. W. Hill, of the family Loganiaceae. The nux-vomica tree is grown in India, Ceylon, Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, etc.; while Strychnos pierriana is produced in China. The Bombay variety is considered the best commercial sort.
This is a moderate-sized tree, with a short, pretty thick, often crooked trunk. The branches are irregular, covered with smooth, ash-colored bark; the young shoots deep-green and highly polished. The wood is white, hard, close-grained, and bitter. The leaves are opposite, short-stalked, oval, shining, smooth on both sides, 3 to 5-nerved, or rather between that and triple, or quintuple, differing in size from 3 to 12 cm long, and from 2 to 6 cm wide.
The flowers are small, greenish-white, funnel-shaped, in small, terminal cymes, with a disagreeable odor. The fruit is a berry, round, about the size of a large apple, covered with a smooth, hard rind, of a rich-orange color when ripe, and filled with a white, soft, gelatinous pulp.
The seeds are 5, nidulant, discoidal, with a central prominence, covered with a fine woolly substance, but whitish and hard like horn internally. The vomiting nut seed is about 25 mm in diameter, orbicular, grayish or greenish-gray; soft-hairy, of a silky lustre, with a slight ridge extending from the center of one side to the edge; internally horny, somewhat translucent, very tough, with a large circular cavity, into which the heart-shaped, nerved cotyledons project. It is inodorous and persistently bitter.
In China, Strychnos pierriana is mainly produced in the provinces Yunnan, Guangdong, Hainan, etc., while Strychnos nux-vomica is mainly produced outside of China, in India, Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, etc.
Vomiting nut seed is harvested when the fruit ripens in winter. Take the seeds out of the nut, dry them in the sun and blast-fry for inclusion in a preparation.
Also called Poison Nut, Dong Button. |
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| Properties: |
| Bitter in flavor, cold and highly toxic in nature, it is related to the liver and spleen channels. |
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| Functions: |
| Resolves masses to subdue swelling and removes obstruction in the channels and collaterals to alleviate pain. |
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| Applications: |
1. Treats traumatic injuries, boils and pyogenic infections, etc.:
Vomiting nut seed can resolve masses, subdue swelling and kill pain.
a) Traumatic injuries, boils and pyogenic infections:
Vomiting nut seed is often used in combination with pangolin scales, e.g., Maqian San, Qinglong Wan, etc.
b) Swelling and pain due to inflammation of the throat:
Vomiting nut seed is ground together with subprostrate sophora root, etc., into powder for blowing into the throat, e.g., the relevant recipe in the book Extracts from Recipes.
c) Carbuncles and swelling, acute and chronic erysipelas (an acute febrile disease associated with intense edematous local inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissues):
Recently vomiting nut seed has had better effects on the captioned ailments when used in combination with bran (1:2).
2. Treats rheumatism and arthralgia, numbness and paralysis, etc.:
Vomiting nut seed is rather powerful in removing obstruction from the channels and collaterals and having its potency reach and go through joints to the extent of alleviating pain.
a) Obstinate arthralgia due to pathogenic wind-dampness:
Vomiting nut seed is used in combination with ephedra, earthworm, etc.
b) Numbness of the hands and feet and hemiplegia (partial paralysis of one side of the body):
Vomiting nut seed can be ground into powder and taken in licorice powder honey pills.
c) Myasthenia gravis:
Recently vomiting nut seed has produced certain effects in the clinical treatment of Myasthenia gravis when its preparation is taken every day at the beginning and in 3 portions daily. |
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| Dosage and Administration: |
0.3-0.9 g.
Vomiting nut seed should be prepared and it is mostly included in pills or powder for oral administration.
Use an adequate amount externally by grinding into powder and mixing with a fluid for application. |
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| Cautions on Use: |
No excessive or long-term administration of this herb should be allowed. It should be sand-scorched until the seeds bulge and turn brown or dark brown before inclusion in a preparation. It should be avoided by pregnant women.
Any poisoning due to an excessive dose may cause tremors of the limbs, fainting due to emotional upset, dyspnea or even coma. |
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| Reference Materials: |
The Compendium of Materia Medica : "Treats rebrile diseases and sore throat."
"Resolving masses by holding the decoction in the mouth and then swallowing it or by blending the herb with water for holding in the mouth and then swallowing."
Records of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in Combination : "This is far more powerful than other herbs in removing obstruction from the channels and collaterals and having its potency reach and go through the joints." |
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| Toxic or Side Effects: |
| Highly toxic. |
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| Modern Researches: |
Vomiting nut seed contains a variety of alkaloids, mainly including strychnine and brucine and it also contains chlorogenic acid, loganin, fatty oil, proteins, etc.
This herb can stimulate the reflex function of the spinal cord and secondly stimulate the respiration centre and the vasomotor centre of the medullary bulb. A large dose causes fainting due to emotional upset. Brucine has a marked antitussive effect. It can also numb the sensory nerve endings.
The water decoction of vomiting nut seed can inhibit dermatomyces.
Vomiting nut seed is also known as Fanmubie in Chinese. There is another vine called cochinchina momordica of Cucurbitaceae, which is also known as Tubiezi in Chinese. The two plants are of different genera and families and with different herb properties and therefore they must not be confused.
Fanmubie (vomiting nut seed [Semen Strychni]) is round in shape with a concave centre on one side like a button densely covered with filiform setae; Tubiezi (cochinchina momordica seed [Semen Momordicae]) is in the shape of a flat round shell with humped centre and serrate raised rim and without setae.
Clinically the vomiting nut seed (Semen Strychni) is more commonly used. As it is sweet in flavor, warm in nature and toxic in property, cochinchina momordica seed (Semen Momordicae) can resolve swelling and relieve pyogenic infections and is therefore mainly used for pyogenic infections, acute mastitis, scrofula, etc.
The wood of vomiting nut tree is exceedingly bitter, especially that of the root, which is said to cure intermittent fevers and bites of venomous snakes. The pulp of the fruit is greedily eaten by various birds.
The bark contains a large proportion of brucine and some strychnine, and is said to be identical with the false angustura bark, which at one time appeared on the market. |
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