Rhinoceros horn is hailed as a panacea for vomiting

What is rhinoceros horn(Xi Jiao)? It refers to the horns of Rhinoceros unicornis L., R. sondaicus Desmarest, R. sumatrensis Cuvier, R. bicornis L., R. simus Cottoni and other species in the family Rhinocerotidae. When consumed in a medicinal manner it should be split, soaked in hot water, taken out, sliced with a special knife, and dried. In addition, it is often used in the form of powder as well.

When it comes to medicinal rhinoceros horns, they are commonly referred to as the horns from Asian rhinoceros. They are characterized by smaller size (all of them are at 30cm long or so), oval chassis (like a watermelon seed or turtle back, slightly narrower at one end and slightly wider at another end), "bamboo pattern" on longitudinal section, "millet grain pattern" on cross-section, and faint scent. But their weights range from 0.5 to 10kg.

Rhinoceros horn benefits
It is an age-old medicine for people who live throughout the Middle East and the Far East. There it is hailed as a "panacea" for vomiting, chicken pox and other diseases. In the Middle East, rhino horn is conventional item for a young lad’s decoration and self-defense weapon. Allegedly, rhinoceros horn price there is staggering, e.g. a pretty dagger made of it is worth twelve thousand U.S. dollars there. It is also one of major causes why rhinos are endangered. For that reason, in the past century many types of rhinos, black or white, have been hunted extensively. It is said that now only 20 R. sondaicus Desmarest survive worldwide.

Even though now it is not used as a medicine any more. Knowing a bit more about the medical facts about rhinos can be good for you. From the perspective of Chinese herbal medicine, it works wonders for all blood poisoning diseases, e.g. blood-poisoning induced skin diseases like psoriasis. What’s more, less anti-virus blood cells may lead to the occurrence of cancer. Thus it can be seen that toxic in the blood is terrible. As mentioned above, this is a keratin-like substance and a derivative of hair substances, containing keratin, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, tyrosine, and the like. Hence,it is often carved into rhinoceros horn cup by artisans in order to let its medicinal ingredient dissolve into the wine. By doing so, it can help cure diseases and improve health.