Pumice (Many small pores, hard, loose, and brittle, easy to crush, light, floats in water)
【Naming】
【Source】
Rihua Zi Bencao (Materia Medica by Rihua Zi)
【Common Usage Level】
E
【Origin】
Pumice is a porous rock formed by the solidification of silica-containing magma ejected from volcanoes after cooling. Sea Pumice is the calcareous inner shell (i.e., the chamber of the insect) group skeleton secreted by the bryozoan Costazia aculeata Canu et Bassler or C. costazii Audouin.
【Characteristics】
(1) Pumice: Irregular blocks of varying sizes, usually 2-7 cm in diameter, some up to 20 cm. The surface is rough and has many small pores of different sizes, grayish-white or grayish-yellow. It is hard, loose, and brittle, easy to crush, and the fractured surface is rough with small holes, some with a silky luster or none. Light in weight, it floats when placed in water. It has a weak odor and a bland taste.
(2) Sea Pumice (Stone Flower): The skeleton of the spiny bryozoan or nodular bryozoan. 1. The skeleton of the spiny bryozoan is in the shape of a coral-like irregular block, slightly oblate or oblong. Varying in size, 2-5 cm in diameter. Grayish-white or grayish-yellow. The base is slightly flat, and the other side has many protrusions, branching in a fork shape, with the middle interwoven like a net. The forked branches are 3-5 mm long and about 2 cm in diameter. Most of the tips are broken, and most of the intact ones are blunt and round. It is hard and brittle, and the surface and fracture surface are densely covered with small holes. Light in weight and floats in water. It has a slightly fishy odor and a slightly salty taste. 2. The skeleton of the nodular bryozoan is an irregular block, 1-3 cm in diameter, mostly broken pieces. The surface is grayish-yellow or grayish-black. The coral-like branches are short and thick, about 4 mm in diameter. The tips are blunt and round, and rarely broken. The smell is the same as above.
Calcined Pumice: Similar in shape to the raw product, mostly powdery, grayish-white in color, and crisp in texture.
【Preparation】
1. Raw Sea Pumice 2. Calcined Sea Pumice
【Identification】
《Quality Identification》: “The one with a light color and light weight is superior.”
The best is the one that is grayish-white in color, light in weight, and floats in water.
【Category】
Minerals