For “Infant-cord Rigidity”, likely some sort of infant ailment, the instructions for concocting the medicinal cure say to “take anthill loam and smith it.” For “Inguinal swelling” (including hernias), the text instructs to “wrap hive-bee eggs [larvae] that have been dried in the dark in cloth”. Alternatively, one can “at dawn take one bee egg [larva]. Soak it in one cup of fine gruel vinegar and give it to the person to drink.”

While such treatments found in these texts are, to my knowledge, rarely implemented today, insects are still being used in attempts to alleviate the illnesses of man. For example, leaf cutter ants have antibiotics, and current research on these ants and their antibacterial mutualists may ultimately contribute to the development of more effective antibiotics for humans. Alas, I have yet to learn of any positive medicinal effects provided by bee larvae. But feel free to comment if you have any pertinent anecdotes!

Citation:

Donald Harper, Early Chinese Medical Literature: The Mawangdui Medical Manuscripts (London: Kegan Paul International 1998), 221-304.

In translation: “Is it not a pleasure to have friends who come from afar?” The characters here are traditional, because the saying is in Classical Chinese. Classical Chinese is often more compact than modern Mandarin, and one character can have a whole host of different meanings. But the meaning of this saying is clear, and it rings true from antiquity to modern times! 再见, 我的朋友!

Click on the image to see more detail. The blue line is “ant”, while the others are beetle, grasshopper, mosquito, dragonfly, wasp, and cockroach. While “ant” ultimately reigns supreme, there are two time periods during which “mosquito” is more prevalent than “ant”. However, note that these periods correspond exactly to World War I and World War II. In other words, mosquitoes are harbingers of death and destruction.

The results of this rigorous, scientific study allow us to confidently reject the null hypothesis (ants ≤ other insects) in favor of the alternative (ants >> other insects).