A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c15.s3: Blue Vitriol
A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c15.s3
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Blue Vitriol
v1.c15.s3.1
The word *tuttham* is generally applied to blue vitriol; in Rasendrasāramgraha and Sārngadhara, the following synonyms are given: तुल्यकं तु शिखीग्रीवं हेमसारं मयूरकं ।
v1.c15.s3.2
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.
v1.c15.s3.3
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.
v1.c15.s3.4
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.
v1.c15.s3.5
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.).
v1.c15.s3.6
(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.
v1.c15.s3.7
Our knowledge of the nature of the “essence” of blue vitriol has thus been gradually advanced from Rasārnava downwards.¹
v1.c15.s3.8
(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.
Linked texts (5)
- Rasaratnasamuccaya — Vāgbhaṭa (alchemist), Sanskrit
- Śārṅgadharasaṃhitā — Śārṅgadhara (physician), Sanskrit
- Rasārṇava — Sanskrit
- Bhāvaprakāśa — Bhāvamiśra 1550, Sanskrit
- Rasendrasārasaṃgraha (Gopāla Kṛṣṇā) — Gopāla Kṛṣṇā 1800, Sanskrit