History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c18.5

v1.c18.5

Further, while using these compounds in the body, the scholars have also felt that still there is a need and scope for the development of more advanced and sophisticated pharmaceutical techniques for removing the toxicity of mercury, metals and minerals and for their conversion into the most suitable compounds of therapeutic value. Besides these in the context of mercury the development of *Mūrcchanā* and *Gandhaka Jāraṇa* also deserves mention. As through these the toxicity of mercury could be reduced to minimum and mercury may be converted to some compound form which may prove to be the most suitable for internal use. It is found mentioned in *Rasendracintāmaṇi* for the first time that through the process of *Mūrcchanā* only the *vyādhighatakatva Śakti* (disease destroying capacity) could be induced in mercury and its compounds. As prior to the development of this process (*mūrcchanā*) mercury is being used internally or externally mixed with metals and herbal drugs either in amalgam form or divided into fine particles form.