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A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c12: The Iatro-Chemical Period

A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c12

Language
English

Contents

The Iatro-Chemical Period

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Chemistry in Rasaratnasamuchchaya

Book I

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Salutation to him—the excellent, the greatest physician of the world by the nectareous ocean of whose benign glance, resplendent with brilliance, born of everything that is joyous and auspicious and which acts like unfailing elixir, the diseases of his devotees, such as birth, death, old age and worldly attachment, are cured in an instant.¹ I

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¹ I

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(1) The salutation is strictly Buddhistic and is on all fours with the opening lines of Vāgbhaṭa's Ashṭāngahridaya and of Amarakosha, both of which are known to be by Buddhist authors; cf. also Lalitavistara :

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वेद्यः सर्वस्य लोकस्य वन्देऽहमपि त्वां विभो । VII. p. 123, R. L. Mitra's ed

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जराव्याधिक्लिष्टानां प्रादुर्भवतो भिषग्वरः । xii, p. 150.

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Ādima,¹ Chandrasena, Lankesa, Bisārada, Kapāli, Matta, Māndavya, Bhāskara, Sūrasenaka, Ratnakosa, Sambhu, Sāttvika, Naravāhana, Indrada. Gomukha, Kambali, Vyadi, Nāgārjuna, Surānanda, Nāgabodhi, Yasodhana, Khanda, Kāpālika, Brahmā, Govinda, Lampaka and Hari—these are the twenty seven experts on Alchemy as also Rasāmkusa, Bhairava, Nandī, Svachchhandabhairava, Manthānabhairava, Kākachandīsvara, Vāsudeva, *Rishyasringa*, the compiler of alchemy, the ascetic Rasendratilaka, Bhāluki, who has got the appellation of Maithili, Mahādeva, Narendra, Ratnākara and Harīsvara. 2-7

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¹ The Benares Ms. reads Āgama.

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This treatise on well-tried mercurials and minerals, named “Rasaratnasamuchchaya,” adapted to the treatment of diseases, is being compiled by the son of Simhagupta, after having consulted the works of the aforesaid adepts and others. It will treat of mercury, the minerals and the metals, the construction of the apparatus, the mystical formulæ for the purification of the metals, the extraction of the essences (active principles), liquefaction and incineration. 8-10

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[Here follows a description of the virtues of mercury and its mythical origin.]

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By partaking of mercury, men are freed from a multitude of diseases, arising out of the sins of former existence—of this there is no doubt. 26

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He who falls foul of mercury, which is the generative principle of Siva, will rot in the hell æon after æon. 29

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From the mouth of the God of fire * * mercury dropped into the country of Darada¹ and it has there remained ever so long. The soil of that region, on being subjected to distillation, yields mercury. 89-90

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Colophon

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Here ends Book first of Rasaratnasamuchchaya, composed by Vāgbhata, son of Simhagupta, Prince of Physicians.

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(1) Dardistan,the mountainous region about Kásmír, is famous for the ores of cinnabar from which mercury is extracted. Darada is in fact a name of cinnabar. The auriferous region of the Daradas is mentioned by Humboldt (Kosmos II. p. 513 E. C. Otte) who places it either in the Thibetan highlands east of the Bolor chain, west of Iskardo, or towards the desert of Gobi described also as auriferous by Hiouen Thsang. Regarding Párada and Darada see also Lassen's Alterthumskunde, I. pp. 848-49. It seems probable that "párada" (quicksilver) and "darada" (cinnabar) owe their names to the countries from which their supply was obtained.

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BOOK II

Book II. The Rasas

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[In the Hindu Materia Medica the mineral kingdom is broadly divided into the Rasas and the Uparasas, the Ratnas (gems) and the Lohas (metals). The term Rasa is in general reserved for mercury, though it is equally applicable to a mineral or a metallic salt. In the oldest medical works, *e. g.* the Charaka and the Susruta, Rasa has the literal meaning of juice or fluid of the body, which according to the notions of humoral pathology engenders blood, serum, sweat, &c., (see p. 42). Rasakriyā¹ in the Susruta means fluid extract or concentrated decoction. As mercurial and metallic preparations gradually came into vogue and even began to supplant the vegetable drugs, the term *rasa* began to be substituted for quicksilver on account of its semi-fluid character and its supposed miraculous therapeutical action on the juices or humours of the body (Cf. *Rig-Veda*, "Somarasa": *Vide* Intro.) In the Bāvaprakāsa we find rasa used in a two-fold sense,—ancient and comparatively modern.¹

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¹ सालसारादिसारेषु पटोलविफलासु च रसक्रिया विधातव्या शोधनो शोधनेषु च। Sútra. Chap. xxxvi, 19.

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In the older works Rasāyana (derived from rasa, juice, and ayana, way) means a medicine preventing old age and prolonging life—the *Elixir vitæ*.² Later on Rasāyana was almost exclusively applied to the employment of mercury and other metals in medicine and at present it means also alchemy (chemistry). Our author uses the term

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(1) सम्यक् पक्वस्य भक्तस्य सारो निर्गदितारसः ।
स तु द्रवः सितः शीतः स्वादुः स्निग्धश्चलोभवत् ॥ Vol. I, p. 59. ed. Kálisa Chandra Sen Gupta.

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In the above sloka, rasa is used in the sense of chyle. Again :—

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रसायनार्थिभिर्लोकैः पारदो रसने यतः ।
ततो रस इति प्रोक्तः स च धातुरपि स्मृतः ॥ ibid. p. 442.

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Here “rasa” is used as a synonym of mercury and regarded as a metal.

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(3) For the definition of the term Rasáyana in the Charaka, see p. 32; cf. also “रसायनञ्च तज्ज्ञेयं यज्जराव्याधिनाशनम्” Sarngadhara. Cf. also : “Dies Wort (rasa) nämlich hat nicht nur der rasagnána, d. i. Kenntniss der Säfte, einem Kapitel der Medicin, sondern einer Benennung der Alchemie, rasasástra, dann rasasiddhi, durch Quecksilber erlangte Vollkommenheit, das Vertrautsein mit der Alchemie, sowie desgl. rasendradarsana (wortl. Untersuchung des Säfte-Herrschers d. i. Quecksilbers), Lehre der Alchemisten (dieser heisst Rasáyana) seinen Namen geliehen und ausserdam in Compositen einer Menge chemischer Substanzen.”—Pott : “Chemie order Chymie?” “Zeit. deut. Morg. Ges.” xxx. 7 “Rasasiddhipradāyaka” (1-5), which is derivied from rasa, mercury, siddhi, accomplishment and pradāyaka, giver or bestower, *i.e.* lit. giver of accomplishment in mercury *i.e.* an expert on alchemy. Wilson in his Dictionary thus happily renders Rasasiddhi: “The knowledge of alchemy, the possession of peculiar familiarity with mercury obtained by the performance of chemical operations conjoined with certain mystical and magical rites and the securing thence to the adept of happiness, health and wealth ; the power of transmuting metals and the art of prolonging life.”

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With these prefatory remarks, we shall now allow our author to proceed.]

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Abhra (mica), Vaikrānta, Mākshika (pyrites), Vimala, Adrija (bitumen), Sasyaka, Chapala, and Rasaka : these 8 rasas are to be identified and collected.¹ [*Vide* “Explanatory Notes on the Minerals” at the end of Chap. I]

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¹ Rasārnava (p. 69) recognises the following eight minerals :—mākshika, vimala, adrija, chapala, rasaka, darada (cinnabar) and srotonjana (stibium).

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Abhra

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There are three varieties of mica, namely, pinākam, nāgamandūkam and vajram and each of these again are of four different colours—white, red, yellow and black. 5-10

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Mica, the layers of which can be easily detached, is preferred. Mica, which is as bright as the moon and which has the lustre of the rust of iron, does not take up or combine with (lit. swallow) mercury. That which has taken up mercury can alone be used with the metals and administered in medicine. Mica, which has been killed, is prescribed in the treatment of various diseases. The variety which has the lustre of the moon, if taken internally, brings on dyspepsia and urinary disorders. 12-14

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Mica, heated seven times and plunged into sour gruel or cow's urine or decoction of the chebulic myrobalans or cow's milk, is freed from all impurities. 17-18

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Mica, mixed with paddy grains and reduced to powder, tied in a piece of cloth and suspended in sour gruel and then passed through linen, is known as Dhānyabhram (lit. mica in combination with paddy). Dhānyabhram, rubbed with the juice of cassia sophora and roasted ten times in a closed crucible, is killed thereby. 24

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Vaikranta

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Vaikrānta has eight faces and six angles, is slippery and heavy and of uniform or mixed tint. It has 8 different colours, viz., white, red, yellow, blue, with the shades met with in the down of the pigeon, grass-green, black and variegated 55-56

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Vaikrānta is a powerful tonic and reckoned among the sovereign medicines. It is a destroyer of all (bodily) disorders and is employed in the place of diamond. 57-58

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Vaikrānta is purified by being heated three days with the salts and the alkalies or by digestion with the acids, urines or a decoction of dolichos uniflorus and the plantain or of paspalum scrobiculatum. It is killed by being roasted in a covered crucible eight times in combination with sulphur and lemon juice and pasp. scrobi. 67-68

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Vaikrānta, after being heated and plunged into the urine of the horse, ought to be repeatedly roasted and then reduced to ashes. 69

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Vaikrānta after incineration is substituted for diamond. 70

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Macerated in the ashes of schrebera swiet. butea frondosa and cow's urine and mixed with the powdered root of euphorb. antiq., turmeric . . .

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borax, powdered lac and made into balls with the milky juice of *asclepias gem.*, and honey and strongly heated in a closed crucible, vaikrānta yields its essence. Of this there is no doubt. 71-72

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Copper Pyrites

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Mākshikam (pyrities) is born of mountains yielding gold . . and is produced in the bed of the river Tāpī and in the lands of the Kirātās, the Chinese and the Yavanas. 77

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Pyrites is of two kinds—golden and silvery: the former is a native of Kanouj and is of golden yellow colour. The silvery pyrites is associated with stones and is of inferior quality. 81

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Rubbed with the juice of lemons and sulphur and roasted in a closed crucible it is *killed*. 84

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Mākshika, repeatedly steeped in honey, oil of the seeds of *ricinus communis*, urine of the cow, clarified butter and the extract of the bulbous root of *musa sapientum* and gently roasted in a crucible, yields an essence in the shape of copper. 89-90

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Vimala

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Vimala is described as of three kinds according as it has the lustre of gold, silver and brass respectively. 96

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It is rounded and is also endowed with angles and faces.

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It is killed by being roasted ten times with sulphur, bitumen, *artocarpus lakoocha* and the acids. 100 Vimala, rubbed with borax, the juice of *artocarpus lakoocha* and the ash of *schrebera swiet*., and roasted in a covered crucible, yields an essence of the appearance of gold.¹ 101 Vimala digested with alum, green vitriol, borax and the watery liquid expressed from *moringa pter*., *musā s*. and finally roasted in a covered crucible in combination with the ashes of *schrebera swiet*., yields an essence in the shape of chandrārka (lit. copper of gold-like lustre).

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Silajatu

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Silajatu (bitumen) is of two kinds, one having the smell of cow's urine, the other resembling camphor. It oozes out in the heat of the sun at the foot of the Himalayas from the bowels of gold, silver and copper respectively.² (cf. *ante* p. 46) 106

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(1) The text reads : : भामसांनभ = *lead-like*, which however conveys no adequate meaning. A variant is सौतसंनंभ = *gold-like*.
(2) The resins of the styrax benzoicum and also a variety of bitumen, especially the latter are referred to. The description is evidently borrowed from the Charaka and the Susruta.

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Sasyaka

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Sasyaka (blue vitriol) . . . has the play of colour in the throat of the peacock (i.e. has blue tint). Mayuratuttham is an emetic, an antidote to poisons and a destroyer of the whiteness of the skin.

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It is killed by being roasted in a covered crucible with the juice of *artocarpus lakoocha*, sulphur, bitumen and borax, 132

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Extraction of Copper

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Take blue vitriol and one-fourth its weight of borax and soak the mixture in the oil expressed from the seeds of *pongamia glabra* for one day only and then place it in a covered crucible and heat in the charcoal fire—by this process an essence is obtained from it of the beautiful appearance of coccinella insect.¹

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¹ *i. e.* red ; in the Charka, blood is described as having the colour of the coccinella insect. Couplets 133 and 134 have been borrowed almost *verbatim* from Rasārnava.

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Or, enclosed in a crucible with borax and the juice of lemons and strongly heated, it yields an essence in the shape of copper. 135

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Pure blue vitriol, of the colour of peacock, in combination with the aforesaid drugs and by the application of various processes, gives up its essence. 136

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Chapala

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There are four varieties of Chapala—yellow, white, red and black. That which has the lustre of gold or silver is most appropriate for the fixation of mercury. The last two are indifferent and readily melt like lac and are useless. Chapala melts like tin when heated over fire—hence the name. 143-144

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Chapala has six faces and the lustre of a crystal.¹ 146

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¹ It is not clear what substance is really meant by the term Chapala ; its radical meaning is mobile or fickle, hence it is a name often given to quicksilver.

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Rasaka

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Rasaka(calamine) is of two kinds : the one of laminated structure is known as dardura ; the other, non-laminated, is called karavellaka. 149

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Calamine is to be heated and plunged seven times into the juice expressed from the seeds of lemon or immersed in the urine of man or of horse or in sour gruel or sour milk and thus purified. 154-155

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Extraction of Zinc

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Rub calamine with turmeric, the chebulic myrobalans, resin, the salts, soot, borax and one fourth its weight of semicarpus anacardium, and the acid juices. Smear the inside of a tubulated crucible with the above mixture and dry it in the sun and close its mouth with another inverted over it, and apply heat. When the flame issuing from the molten calamine changes from blue to white, the crucible is caught hold of by means of a pair of tongs and its mouth held downwards and it is thrown on the ground, care being taken not to break its tubulure.¹ The essence possessing the lustre of tin which is dropped is collected for use.

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¹ The Benares Ms. reads “यथा नाल भञ्जन” and drops न which would mean so “as to break its tubulure.”

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Calamine is be powdered with lac, treacle, white mustard, the myrobalans, natron and borax and the mixture boiled with milk and clarified butter and made into balls. These are to be enclosed in a crucible and strongly heated. The contents are then poured on a slab of stone—the essence of calamine of the beautiful appearance of tin (thus obtained) is to be used.

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Or a vessel filled with water is to be placed inside a koshthī apparatus and a perforated cup or saucer placed over it; a crucible charged as above is to be fixed in an inverted position over the saucer and strongly heated by means of the fire of jujube (*zizyphus iujuba*) charcoal: the essence which drops into the water should be applied (in medicine). [vide illustrations] 165-166

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This essence is to be mixed with orpiment and thrown over an earthen dish and rubbed with an iron rod till it is reduced to ashes. [From the context it is evident that the operation is to be performed over fire.] 167-168

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BOOK III.

Book III. The Uparasas or Inferior Rasas

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Sulphur, red ochre, vitriol, alum, orpiment, realgar, anjana and *kamkushtha*—these are the eight uparasas, useful in operations of mercury. I

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[Here follows the mythical origin of sulphur.]

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Sulphur

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Sulphur is of three kinds: that of the first quality resembles the beak of a parrot; that of the second quality is yellow; whereas the white variety is the worst. Another authority says: there are four kinds of sulphur according as it is of white, yellow, red and black colour respectively......the black variety is rare.¹ 12-15

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Melted sulphur is poured into the juice of *verbesina calendulacea* and thus purified.

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A vessel which contains milk has its mouth tied down with a piece of cloth, over which is deposited finely powdered sulphur; the latter again covered with an earthen bowl. Heat is applied from above by burning cow-dung cakes. The melted sulphur drops into the milk and is thus purified. 24-25

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Gairika

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Gairika (red ochre) is of two kinds: the one, pāshāna gairika, is hard and copper-coloured; the other is svarna gairika *i. e.* of the colour of gold (yellow). 46

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(1) Cf...“il y a des soufres des diverses couleurs; l’un rouge, l’autre jaune un autre blanc pariel á l’ivoire ;...un autre, noir, qui ne vaut rien.” “La Chimie au moyen âge,” 1, 307.

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Kasisa

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Kāsisa (sulphate of iron) is of two kinds: vālukā-kāsisa and pushpa-kāsisa. [The former termed in other works dhātukāsisa is the green variety and the latter, the basic or yellowish variety.] 51

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Its essence is to be extracted like that of alum. 54

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Tuvari

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Tuvarī (alum): the fragrant earth produced in the mountains of Surat is known as tuvarī, which dyes cloth and fixes the colour of madder.¹ 59

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¹ i.e. forms lakes.

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A second variety of it called phatakī or phullikā is slightly yellow . . . Another variety known as phulla tuvarī is white and acid in taste; iron changes to copper by the process of lepa [cf. Bk. VIII, 80, where the term “लेप:” is used in the sense of transmutation of the baser metals. The author seems to convey the idea that alum plays an important part in this process.] 60-62

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Alum is astringent, acid, beneficial to the eye... and killer of mercury.²

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² पारदजारणो ; Cf. the various formulæ for the preparation of calomel in which alum yields sulphuric acid and plays an important part.

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Alum is to be macerated in the bile of the ox one-hundred times and then its essence is to be extracted by distillation¹—a very secret process, not to be divulged. 65

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Talaka

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Tālaka (orpiment) is of two kinds: the one is of a leafy structure, the other is found in balls or cakes and is of golden colour . . . and bright. 66

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It is purified by being digested in the juice of cucumber and the alkaline water of the ashes of sesamum or in lime water. 69

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Tālaka is to be rubbed with buffalo's urine and thrice macerated in the decoction of *butea frondosa* of the consistency of honey, and then to be roasted in a covered crucible and powdered. This operation is to be repeated twelve times. It is then fit to be used in medicines.² 74-75

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Take one pala of tālaka and rub it for one day with the milky juice of *calopropis gigantea* and mix

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(1) पातयेत् सत्वम् ; here distillation is expressly mentioned. Couplet 65 is borrowed from Rasārnava.

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(2) Most likely a sulpharsenite of potash is formed. The process in Rasendrasārasamgraha is more scientific. “Tālaka is to be cut into small pieces and rubbed with lime water and the alkaline water derived from the ash of *achyranthes aspera* and is then to be enclosed in carbonate of potash and roasted.”

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it with the same weight of oil and heat it in an open place for 7 days and nights together. Collect the white essence when it has cooled down.¹ 80-81

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¹ It is evident that the operation is to be performed in a glass retort or in the koshtī apparatus described below under realgar.

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Manassila

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Manassila (realgar) is mixed with one-eighth part of its weight of iron-rust, molasses, bdellium and clarified butter and enclosed in the koshtī apparatus [see p. 69] and strongly heated, when it yields its essence. 95

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The Anjanas

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The Anjanas (collyriums) : of these there are Sauvīrānjana, Rasānjana, Srotonjana, Pushpānjana, and Nīlānjana ; their properties are described below. 97-98

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Nīlānjana is a *killer of gold* [cf. the *killing* of gold, silver, iron and copper in Vāgbhata, p. 55] and induces softness in iron, *i.e.* renders it easily pulverizable [as the iron becomes impregnated with the brittle sulphide of iron ; cf also Bk. viii, 38.] 104

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The essence of the anjanas is to be extracted like that of realgar.

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[We quote below the account given in Dutt's "Materia Medica of the Hindus" as our author gives rather scanty information on this point:

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"Galena or sulphide of lead is called anjana or sauvīrānjana in Sanskrit, and krishna surma in vernacular. It is called anjana which literally means collyrium or medicine for the eyes, from the circumstance of its being considered the best application or cosmetic for them. The other varieties of anjana mentioned are Srotonjāna, Pushpānjana and Rāsānjana.

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"Sauvīrānjana (सौवीराञ्जन is said to be obtained from the mountains of Sauvira, a country along the Indus, whence it derives its name. The article supplied under its vernacular name surma is the sulphide of lead ore. Sauvira is usually translated as sulphide of antimony, but I have not been able to obtain a single specimen of the antimonial ore from the shops of Calcutta and of some other towns. The sulphide of antimony occurs in fine, streaky, fibrous, crystalline, masses of a radiated texture: The lead ore on the contrary occurs in cubic masses destitute of rays and is tabular in its crystalline arrangement.

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"Srotonjana (स्रोतोञ्जन ) is described as of white colour, and is said to be produced in the bed

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of the Yamunā and other rivers. It is called Saffed Surma in the vernacular, and the article supplied under this name by Hindustani medicine-vendors is calcareous Iceland spar.¹ It is used as a collyrium for the eyes, but is considered inferier to the black surma or galena.

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¹ See, however, ante p. 55.

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"Pushpānjana (पुष्पाञ्जन is described as an alkaline substance. I have not met with any vernacular translation of this word nor with any person who could identify or supply the drug. Wilson, in his Sanskrit-English Dictionary, translates the term as calx of brass, but I know not on what authority.

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"Rasānjana (रसाञ्जन is the extract of the wood of berberis Asiatica called rasot in the vernacular."]

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Kāmkushtham is produced at the foot of the Himalayas . . . Some are of opinion that it is the excrement of a new-born elephant . . . it is of white and yellow colour and is a strong purgative.²

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² Not weil made out. According to Wilson, it is a medicinal earth, described as of two colours, one of a silvery and the other of a gold colour.

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The Common Rasas

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Kampilla, Chapala¹ Gauripāshāna, Navasāraka, Kaparda, Agnijāra, Hingula, Girisindūra, Mriddārasringakam : these are the eight common Rasas regarded as useful adjuncts to chemical operations by Nāgārjuna and other experts.

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Kampilla² is like brick-dust . . . a purgative . . . natural product of Surat . . . and a vermifuge.

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Gauripāshāna³ is of the lustre of rock-crystal, conch and turmeric respectively . . . its white essence is to be extracted like that of orpiment.

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Navasara and Other Rasas

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Navasāra (sal ammoniac) is begot of the decomposition of the shoots of bamboos and of the wood of careya arborea; navasāra is an alkali, its another name is chulikālavana (lit. salt deposited in

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(1) Including Chapala there are nine common Rasas ; but Chapala has already been considered as a mahārasa. (see p. 87)

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(2) The red mealy powder covering the capsules of mallotus Phillippensis, also known as kamalā. It is not clear why this substance should have found a place among the products of the mineral kingdom.

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(3) Not easy to identify; lit., it means white stone or marble.

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the hearth), it is produced during the burning of the brick . . . it kills mercury, liquefies iron, is a stomachic, an absorbent of the spleen, and aids digestion after much eating.¹ 127-129

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¹ It is of interest to note that Royle, who wrote in 1837, regrets that "no Hindu work on this subject (chemistry) has yet been translated" and is bold enough to predict that "Sal ammoniac must have been familiar to the Hindus, ever since they have burnt bricks, as they now do, with the manure of animals as some may usually be found crystallized at the unburnt extremity of the kiln."—"Antiquity of Hindu Medicine." Royle's surmises have proved to be literally correct. The word "Navasāra" is apparently of Persian origin being corrupted from "Nausadar."

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Varātaka (cowrie or marine shell): alchemists prefer shells which are of yellow colour, knotty and possessed of circular lines on the dorsal side . . . macerated for three hours in sour gruel, it undergoes purifications.² 130-134

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² The text is almost exactly the same as in "Rasendrasāra-samgraha," which gives an additional method of purifying the cowrie, namely:—"Dig a hole in the ground and fill it partly with the husk of paddy, now place on it a crucible containing cowries ; cover it with cow-dung cakes and set fire to the mass. By this process the cowries are reduced to ashes." It is the lime thus obtained, which is often used in medicine.

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Agnijāra is a substance discharged from the womb of a kind of sea-crocodile and dried in the sun.¹

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¹ Not identified. Perhaps the origin is mythical. नक्र is a crocodile, but as is well-known this Saurian never flourishes in the sea. According to राज निघण्टु agnijāra is a marine medicinal plant.

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Girisindūra (lit. vermilion derived from the rocks) occurs among the big mountains (inside the rocks). 137

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Hingula (cinnabar : Syn. darada, see p.78 ); quicksilver extracted from it is as efficacious as killed sulphur. When darada is placed in a retort and its essence collected in water, it yields the same substance as quicksilver—of this there is no doubt. (The apparatus referred to is shown in the illustrations).

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Mriddarasringakam [various readings of the text are given; it is not easy to make out what substance is meant]. It is yellow and of leafy structure and occurs in Gujārat and round about mount Abu. 145

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Rājāvarta (Lapis lazuli) has a bluish tint but with slight admixture of red.........it is killed by being powdered in combination with lemon juice and sulphur and roasted 7 times in a covered crucible.

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BOOK IV

Book IV. The Gems

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The gems also are regarded as the agencies, which help the fixation or coagulation of mercury. These are the gems: Vaikrānta, Suryakānta (sun-stone), Hīrakam (diamond), Mauktikam (pearls), Chandrakānta (moon-stone), Rājāvarta (lapis lazuli) and Garudodgara, the emerald (lit. derived from the vomit of Garuda); the topaz, the sapphire, the coral, the cat's eye are also reckoned among the gems. These are to be carefully collected for the fixation of mercury.¹

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(1) The ruby and the zircon are also mentioned. The Vaikrānta "is a kind of gem said to resemble a diamond, and to be of similar properties." Wilson. Suryakānta and Chandrakānta are gems of fabulous existence, supposed to be formed by the congelation of the rays of the sun and moon respectively. They may also refer to some sort of crystals. The description of the gems, other than diamond, is meagre and vague. The following extracts from Manimāla or "A Treatise on Gems" by Sir Raja Saurindra Mohan Tagore, Mus. Doc., will, to a certain extent, make up for the deficiencies.

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"Mention is made of gems and jewels in the earliest writings of the Hindus. The Vedas speak of a place illuminated by rubies and diamonds, which gave out a light as refulgent as that of the planets. Precious stones play a prominent part in the mythologies

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Vajram

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Vajram (diamond) is of three kinds: male, female and hermaphrodite, and its medicinal properties vary in excellence in the order in which they have been spoken. 26

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The one with 8 angles and 8 faces and 6 corners, very brilliant, with the play of rainbow-colours¹ is known as the male diamond, whereas the female diamond is flattened and rounded whilst the neuter is rounded, obtuse-angled and slightly heavy. 27-28

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Each of these again is divided into 4 classes according to its colour namely: Brāhmana, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sūdra.² 30

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of the Hindus, in their traditions, poems and legends. In the two great epics of Hindustan, the Rāmāyana and the Mahābhārata, frequent mention is made of stones and pearls with which the kings and the people of the period used to decorate their person.”

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(1) The high refractive and dispersive power of diamond is evidently referred to.

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(2) “Diamonds white like the conch, waterlily, or crystal are Brāhmanas; those which are red like the eyes of the hare are Kshatriyas; those which are verdant like the cool plantain-leaf are Vaisyas; those which resemble in colour the clean sword, are nown as Sudras.” Manimāla, i.100.

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Diamond is a bestower of long life, a tonic, an allayer of the three derangements [namely, of air, phlegm and bile], a killer of all the ailments, a fixer of mercury, a subduer of death—in short it is like nectar.

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Diamond is digested in the decoction of kulattha (*dolichos uniflorus*) or of kodrava (*paspulum scrobiculatum*) for three hours and thus purified. Diamond is to be macerated four times in the blood of the bug and enclosed in a ball made of the flesh of the musk-rat and then to be roasted in a covered crucible 30 times or to be heated 100 times and plunged in the decoction of kulattha. 34-37

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Diamond is to be placed in a covered crucible, the inside of which has been coated with realgar, rubbed with the decoction of kulattha and the juice of *artocarpus lakoocha* and roasted 8 times in succession in the fire of dry cow-dung cakes. It is then heated 100 times and thrown into pure mercury—the diamond is thus killed and reduced to fine ashes. 38-39

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The veracious alchemist Somasenānī, after having convinced himself of the success of this process by his own experiments, has given it to the world. 40

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Diamond is to be 7 times smeared in the blood of the bug and dried in the sun and then to be placed in an iron pot and filled w th the juice of *cassia sophora* and heated 7 times. The diamond is sure to be reduced to ashes. This process has been described by the sage Brahmajyoti.

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Diamond smeared with the powder of lead, levigated in the juice of the fruit of madana (*randia dumetorum*), and roasted 20 times in a covered crucible, is reduced to fine powder, which is to be used in medicines.¹

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¹ One or two processes not mentioned by our author may be quoted from ‘‘Rasendrachintāmanis’’:—

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General Process of Reducing Gems to Ashes

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All the gems with the exception of diamond are killed when roasted eight times with a mixture of realgar, sulphur and orpiment, rubbed in the juice of *artocarpus lakoocha*.

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Take asafœtida, the five salts, the three alkalies, *rumex vesicarius*, sal ammoniac, the ripe fruit of the croton plant, jālāmukhi (*anthericum tuberosum*), rudanti (*asclepias rosea*), the root of *plumbago zeylanica*, and the milky juice of *euphorbia antiquorum* and *calotropis gigantea*—rub all these together and make them into a ball. Place inside it the noble and luck-yielding gems. Wrap the ball with the leaves of betula bhojpatra and tie them with thread and enclose the ball again in a piece of cloth and suspend it in a dolāyantra (see Bk. IX) filled with the acids and sour gruel and apply strong heat for three days and nights—the liquid principle of the gems is thus collected. 64-69

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Powdered pearl is to be rubbed with the juice of rumex vesicarius and then transferred inside a lemon and stowed in a mass of paddy. At the end of a week it is heated in a crucible and liquefied.¹ 70-71

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"Take the root of *piper betle* or of the cotton plant (*Gossypium herbaceum*) three years old, and rub it into a paste and enclose the diamond in it and roast it in a covered crucible seven times, when the diamond will be killed."

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"An intelligent person should place in a brass vessel a frog which out of fright will pass water. A diamond is to be heated and plunged into this urine. This process being repeated several times, the diamond is killed." This last recipe is also to be found in Sarngadhara. Couplets (44-45) do not occur in the Benares Ms.

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(1) Couplets 70, 71 and 72 do not occur in the Benaares Ms Diamond, placed inside the stem of *vitis quadrangularis*¹ and heated four weeks in acids, is liquefied.

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Vaikrānta, which is of white colour, liquefies when macerated in the juice of *rumex vesicarius* and exposed to the sun for a week. 73

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Take the juice of *pandanus odoratissimus* rock-salt, svarna pushpikā together with *coccinella* insect. Vaikrānta melts on being digested in this concoction for a week. 74

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BOOK V

Book V. On Metals

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The pure metals are: gold, silver, and iron. The putilohas (lit. metals emitting a fœtid odour) are two: lead and tin. Dhātuloham is iron proper and often conveys different meanings. The alloys are three in number: brass, bell-metal and vartaloha. I

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(1) वज्रवल्ली according to “Vaidyakasabdasindhu” is the same as अस्थिसंहारलता i.e. *vitis quadrangularis*.

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(2) Loha (lit. iron) is often used in the wider sense of a metal.

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Gold

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Gold is known to be of five kinds :—of which 3 are attributed to mythical and celestial origin ; the fourth is called *kshanija* (lit. begot of mines) : the 5th is obtained by the transmutation of the baser metals. (See Bk. VIII, 80-83.) 2

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Gold is to be purified and killed, as otherwise [if taken internally] it robs one of strength, virility and happiness and brings a series of maladies. 11

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Gold-leaf of the weight of one *karsha* is to be smeared with salt and placed between two earthen saucers and heated on a charcoal fire for an hour and a half when its true colours will come out. 12

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The best method of *killing* all the metals is with the aid of the ashes of mercury.¹ The next best is through the agency of the roots, whereas *killing* with sulphur is least to be recommended. 13

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¹ Generally sulphide of mercury (see p. 65).

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When a metal is killed with *ariloha* (meaning: not clear), it is injurious. Gold-leaves, pierced with holes and coated with a paste of lemon juice and the ashes of mercury and roasted ten times are thereby *killed*. 14

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Project into melted gold its own weight of the ash of marcury ; [when cooled] powder it and rub it with lemon-juice and cinnabar and roast it in a covered crucible twelve times. The gold thus acquires the colour of saffron.¹ (cf. Rasārnava XVI. 81, p. 74). 15-16

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Gold-leaf is killed by being rubbed with one-fourth of its own weight of killed mercury and acid of any kind and roasted eight times.² 17

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Silver

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Silver is of 3 kinds : namely sahajam (of mythical origin), begotten of mines and artificial. 22

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Silver melted with lead and borax undergoes purification........ Arrange on an earthen dish a mixture of lime and ashes in a circular row and place in it silver with its equal weight of lead. Now roast it over fire until the lead is consumed. Silver thus purified is to be used for medicinal purposes.)³ (Cf. p. 68) 32-34

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(1) This refers to the mistaken notion that the sublimate of factitious cinnabar (vermilion) contains gold.

v1.c12.t5.17

(2) It will be seen that although killing with sulphur direct is not recommended, the gold is in reality converted into the sulphide and afterwards into metallic gold in a fine state of powder. See under "Killing of Metals."

v1.c12.t5.18

(3) Cf. Rasārnava नागेन चारराजिन द्रावितंशुद्धिमुच्छति। "Silver is purified by being melted with lead and the ashes." The process is practically that of cupellation.

v1.c12.t5.19

Silver-leaf is to be rubbed with mercury and the juice of *artocapus lakoocha* and is to be embedded in sulphur and heated in a covered crucible over a sand-bath; when cold, the mass is once more rubbed with orpiment and acids and roasted 12 times. By this process, the silver is reduced to ashes 35-37

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Silver is reduced to ashes by being 3 times rubbed with powdered iron pyrites and lemon juice and roasted in a covered crucible. 38

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Take 4 parts of silver-leaf and one of orpiment and rub them with the juice of lemon and roast the mixture and repeat the operation 14 times and thus silver is completely incinerated.¹ 40-41

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¹ We shall complete the account with an extract from Rasendrasārasamgraha: "Siver-feaf is pierced with holes and smeared with twice its weight of cinnabar and subjected to distillation in the Pátana Yantra (see Bk. ix on apparatus). The mercury comes off and killed silver remains behind."

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Copper

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There are two varieties of copper: the one brought from Nepal is of superior quality; that dug out of the mines of other countries is designated Mlechchha.² 44

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² The generic term for a barbarian or a foreigner.

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Copper-leaf is killed by being rubbed with lemon-juice, sulphur and mercury and roasted thrice

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Iron

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There are three kinds of iron: namely, mundam (wrought iron), tīkshnam and kāntam; mundam again is of 3 varieties: viz., mridu, kuntham and kadāram.

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That which easily melts, does not break and is glossy is mridu; that which expands with difficulty when struck with a hammer is known as kuntham; that which breaks when struck with a hammer and has a black fracture is kadāram. 71-72

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Tīkshnam (properly cast-iron, steel) : there are 6 varieties of it. One variety is rough and free from hair-like lines and has a quicksilver-like fracture and breaks when bent. Another variety breaks with difficulty and presents a sharp edge. 75-78

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Kāntam: there are 5 kinds of it, namely, bhrāmaka, chumbaka, karshaka, drāvaka and romā-kānta. It possesses one, two, three, four and five faces and often many faces [with which to attract iron] and is of yellow, black and red colour respectively. The variety which makes all kinds of iron move about is called bhrāmaka, that which kisses iron is called chumbaka, that which attracts iron is called karshaka, that which at once melts the iron is called drāvaka (lit. a solvent) and the fifth kind is that which, when broken, shoots forth hair-like filaments. 84-89

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Mercury is like an intoxicated elephant and kāntam is like the bent hook wherewith to restrain it. The wise man digs it out of the mines. That which has remained exposed to the sun and the atmosphere is to be avoided.¹ 92-93

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If water is kept in a vessel and oil poured over it and the oil does not spread about; if asafœtida gives up its odour and decoction of neem (*Melia azadirachta*) its bitterness and milk, being boiled in it, does not overflow but rises high like a peak—if such be the characteristics of the vessel, know that it is made of kānta iron. 94

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Powdered iron is to be macerated awhile in the decoction of the three myrobalans, in cow's urine and then to be mixed up with clarified butter and fried in an earthen vessel and stirred with an iron rod until a blade of straw thrown over it catches fire. The iron powder is to be pounded and the above process repeated five times.

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