Studies in Ancient Hindu Polity (Based on the Arthashastra of Kautilya), Vol. I c5.28

c5.28

The purification of the ores during the actual exploitation of the mines is an interesting study. The metals were purified by treating them with ingredients most of which were organic. The passage¹ quoted below enumerates these ingredients: तीक्ष्ण, urine, alkalies, राजवृक्ष, वट, पोत, cow’s bile, urine and dung of buffalo, etc. Again, metals were made permanently or temporarily malleable by chemically treating them with several ingredients, *e.g.* ashes of यव, माष, तिल, honey, sheep’s milk, clarified butter, powder of cow’s teeth and horn.¹ The passage bearing on this point asserts that even if a metal splits into a hundred thousand parts it can be rendered malleable by the prescribed methods. These methods, however, appear to us to be novel, and are quite different from what a metallurgist of the present day would use. But nevertheless they were of service in their day.