Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c40.s4.8

v2.c40.s4.8

Apart from distilling alcohol or surā, the ancient Indians of the pre-Christian era most probably distilled mercury and zinc also. In Taxilā certain artefacts unearthed look like distillation outfits. Vermillion (assaying 85 per cent plus mercuric sulphide HgS) found in Taxilā might have been used not only as a pigment but also to produce mercury by distillation. A brass vase assaying 34.34 per cent zinc (Marshall, 1951: 568) could not be obtained by the cementation process; zinc metal for this must have been prepared separately by a distillation process. It is significant that while mercury was later mentioned as rasa, zinc came to be known as rasaka, probably implying the ‘juice’ which is obtained like rasa, by a similar process (of distillation).