Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c45.s4.18

v2.c45.s4.18

It may be noted that the author fell short of saying that the metal obtained from mercuric sulphide was mercury itself — merely stated the close resemblance between the two. As a matter of fact, the metal extracted from hiṅgula in an apparatus like vidyādhara or ḍamaru yantra was called hiṅgulākṛṣṭa and not rasa or mercury (RRS, 8.37 and 9.56-57). Probably it was believed that the property of the end-product (metal) was dependent on the raw material from which it was extracted.