The Materia Medica of the Hindus, compiled from Sanskrit Medical Works c4.s1.31

c4.s1.31

Nine active or virulent poisons are mentioned by most writers, namely *vatsanábha*, *háridra*, *saktu*, *pradipana*, *sauráshtrika sringi*, *kálakuṭa*, *haláhala*, and *brahmaputra*. These cannot all be identified at present. Most of them are apparently varieties of aconite, (see page 97). The following seven drugs are described, as minor poisons, viz., opium, *gunjá* (seeds of *Abrus precatorius*), datura, roots of *Nerium odorum* (*karavirá*), and *Gloriosa superba* (*lánguli*) and the milky juices of *Calotropis gigantea* (*arka*) and *Euphorbia neriifolia* (*snuhi*). The mineral poisons mentioned in Susruta are *phenásma bhasma* or white arsenic, and *haritála* or orpiment. Of animal poisons, the poison of the serpent is the only one used in medicine.