History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c13.s2.t11.5

v1.c13.s2.t11.5

As described by Tylelcote (1976) the first brass could have been made by co-reduction of copper oxide and calamine in a closed crucible but there is higher probability of its production by dissolving zinc vapour in molten copper using a system similar to the vapour distillation, which was known to Indians for a long time *Rasa Ratna Samuccaya*. Such a system has been described also in Chinese literature as shown in Fig 47. *Fig 48* shows the copper rich part of the Cu-Zn binary