Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c44.s2.1

v2.c44.s2.1

In the pre-Christian era, Yājñavalkya wrote about minerals and metals in his *Smṛti*; the *Śloka* 181 of *Vyavahāra* dealt with the relative deterioration of metals when treated with fire: ‘Gold does not suffer deterioration, of silver is two palas, of tin and lead eight, of copper five and of iron ten palas per hundred’. In *Ācārādhyāya*, 190, he recommends that