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A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c15: On the Essence of Minerals

A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c15

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English

Contents

On the Essence of Minerals

Calamine

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It will be seen Gladwin's rendering of *Ain-i-Akbari* is not very reliable; it may, however, be noted here that even Blochmann in his much improved and more accurate translation erroneously renders *jost* as "pewter."¹ The *rúh i tútia* (spirits of tutia) is used in the above extract in the same sense as in *Rasārnava*, which describes zinc as the *svattam* (essence) of *rasaka* (see p. 71). In R. R. S. also we find that blue vitriol yields a "*svattam*," which is no other than copper² (p. 86).

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¹ Vol. I. p. 40.

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² The "essence or spirits of minerals" is used here in a different sense from that of the generality of the Arabian and European alchemists. According to the latter there are four spirits of minerals, namely, sulphur, arsenic, sal-ammoniac and mercury. "Les mots esprits, corps, ames, sont fréquemment employés par les alchimistes dans un sens spécial, qu'il importe de connaître pour l' intelligence de leurs écrits. Les passages suivants, quoique d'une époque plus moderne, jettent beaucoup de lumière sur ce point."

The Vitriols

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From the writings of Dioscorides and Pliny it does not appear that the ancient Greeks and Romans drew any sharp distinction between blue

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"On lit dans le traité de *Mineralibus*, prétendu d'Albert le Grand (L. I. tr. I, ch. I er): 'ce qui s'évapore au feu est esprit, àme, accident; ce qui ne s'évapore pas, corps et substance.'—"Coll. des Alch. Grecs," I. pp. 247-8. Cf. "Le cuivre est comme l'homme; il a corps et âme."—Introd. a la Chimie des Anciens, p. 294. See also, "La chimie au moyen âge," T. I. p. 73, and *ibid*. T. III. pp. 168-70; also *ante* p. 91.

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and green vitriol respectively. The word *chalcanthum* was applied now to the one, now to the other.¹ In the Hindu Materia Medica no such confusion occurs. Even in the Charaka and the Susruta *tuttham* (blue vitriol) and *kāsisa* (green vitriol) are mentioned side by side.

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¹ “Ich habe schon bei der Geschichte des Eisenvitriols darauf aufmerksam gemacht, welche Unsicherheit in den früheren Mittheilungen über Vitriol im Allgemeinen herrscht. Auch die älteren Angaben, welche am passendsten auf den Kupfervitriol bezogen werden, können zum theil auf Eisenvitriol gegangen sein.” “Ges. der Chem.” IV. p. 168. “Observons les sens divers de ce mot couperose [chalcanthon], ou de son équivalent vitriol, tels que : vitriol bleu : sulfate de cuivre ; vitriol vert: sulfate de fer, et sulfate de cuivre basique ; vitriol jaune te rouge : sulfates de fer basiques.” “Coll. d. Grecs.” I. pp. 241-242.

Blue Vitriol

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The word *tuttham* is generally applied to blue vitriol; in Rasendrasāramgraha and Sārngadhara, the following synonyms are given: तुल्यकं तु शिखीग्रीवं हेमसारं मयूरकं ।

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R. R. S. uses *mayūratuttham* (मयूरतुत्थं) in Bk. ii. 129, which is a combination of the last and the first names in the above *sloka* Sikhigrīvam (lit.

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resembling the neck of the peacock) is practically the same as "mayūrakantha sachchhāyaṁ" in sloka, 127, *i.e.* having the play of colour in the throat of the peacock.

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The term sasyaka as a synonym for blue vitriol does not ocur in any other medico-chemical work that I have come across except Rasārnava.

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That an essence in the shape of copper is yielded by blue vitriol is worthy of note from a historical point of view. Rasārnava very often hits upon it but is not so explicit as R. R. S., as it modestly contents itself with the mere assertion that the essence is of the colour of *Coccinella* insect *i.e.* red (see p. 86). In the Bhāvaprakāsa (ca. 1550 A.D.) occurs this remarkable passage: "तुल्यं तु ताम्रोपधातुहि किञ्चित्मासेन तद्भवति" blue vitriol is indeed a semimetal of copper as it is derived from copper. The nomenclature itself is in wonderful agreement with that adopted nearly two centuries later by Boerhave¹ (1732 A.D.).

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(1) "Die krystallisirten Verbindungen eines Metalls mit Säuren erkannte er nicht unbedingt als Salze an; die Vitriole namentlich rechnete er zu den Halbmetallen." Kopp: "Ges. d. Chem. iii. p. 6.

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Our knowledge of the nature of the “essence” of blue vitriol has thus been gradually advanced from Rasārnava downwards.¹

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(1) “Basil Valentine” seems to have known that some vitriols contained copper, but his “blue vitriol” does not necessarily mean sulphate of copper. “Der blaue Vitriol.........heisst bei Basilius vitriolum commune: was bei ihm Vitriolum Veneris gennant wird, ist oft Grünspan, und überhaupt geht diese Bezeichnung bei ältern schriftstellern auf sehr verschiedenartige Kupfersalze, wie denn Libavius in seiner Alchymia (1595) für die Bereitung des vitrioli Veneris vorschreibt . . . . . ” Even Agricola (1494-1555), contemporary of Bháva does not make any great distinction between green and blue vitriol. “Agricola beschreibt in seiner Schrift de re metallica die Darstellung des Kupfervitriols bei der des Eisenvitriols und des Alauns, ohne die beiden ersteren als wesentlich verschieden anzusehen, und auch in seiner Abhandlung “de natura fossilium” unterscheidet er nur verschieden gefärbte, nicht aber wesentlich verschiedne Vitriole” . . . . . “ Ges. d. Chem.” IV 170-171.

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