Hutong tears, also known as Hutong Lu, stone tears, and Hutong alkaloids. Recorded in "Newly Revised Materia Medica". It is a product formed by the resin of the plant Populus euphratica Oliv., a member of the willow family, flowing into the soil and forming over many years. It is mostly harvested in winter, and the impurities are removed and dried.
[Processing method] Take the original medicinal material, remove impurities, dry it in a lime jar, crush it, remove foreign matter, and sift through a 60-mesh sieve.
[Appearance of prepared slices] It is a granular structure, yellowish or cherry green in color, and has hygroscopicity. It has a slight odor and a bitter and astringent taste.
[Processing function] Hutong tears have a bitter and astringent taste, and a cold nature. They enter the lung and stomach meridians. They have the functions of clearing heat and detoxification, and softening and resolving phlegm. After being finely ground, it is used for sore throat, toothache, dental caries, otitis media, scrofula, and stomach pain. For example, Hutong tears powder is used to treat infantile malnutrition sores ("Puji Fang"); when ground into powder and applied externally, it can treat scrofula and tuberculosis ("Yi Lin Zuan Yao"); when mixed with borax, alum, gallstone, and ground into powder, and mixed with ginger soup for gargling, it can treat acute throat swelling, and swollen and blocked glands ("Bencao Huiyan"). Processing increases the cleanliness of the medicinal material, facilitates the dissolution of active ingredients, and facilitates dispensing and formulation.
