A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c18.s6: The Restorative Processes
A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v1.c18.s6
- Language
- English
The Restorative Processes
v1.c18.s6.1
Having in the previous paragraphs described with tolerable fulness the various sources of loss of gold in the course of its artistic manipulation by the Indian goldsmith and having in each case pointed out the form in which the metal escapes the hold of the worker, we will now turn our eyes to the methods which now obtain in our country for recovering, as far as possible, the amount of material which is lost. It is perhaps worth while here to point out that to re-obtain the entire amount of lost material is absolutely impossible from the innate property of the extreme divisibility of matter; and our sole object in these restorative operations should be to secure the recovering of the largest amount of metal that can possibly be saved. There are two small classes of men in Bengal who obtain their living by extracting gold from the refuse and bye-products of the goldsmith's workshop. These are the *neharwala* and the *jamakwala* before alluded to. These classes of men are found to cluster in the suburbs of large towns and important centres of jewelry manufactures. In the smaller towns and more insignificant villages, the bye-products have either to be thrown away or to be disposed of in the best manner that the goldsmith can hit upon. Not unfrequently in such cases the goldsmith himself undertakes to play the part of a *jamakwala* and *neharwala* to the best of his abilities. But the unpractised manipulation of processes, which are themselves far from being satisfactory is sure to result always in the loss of a large portion of gold.
v1.c18.s6.2
We will now proceed to describe the operations of the *neharwala* and the *jamakwala*. It may, however, be marked here that the immense difficulty in the way of obtaining the slightest information regarding the indigenous methods adopted by these workmen, in the exercise of their profession, can hardly be appreciated by one who has not personally made an attempt to penetrate into the mysteries of any of the trade or manufacturing secrets of India. The unfortunate stagnation of almost all departments of knowledge, art and industry in India that perplexes and mortifies an inquirer, owes its origin to a longstanding and universal spirit of conservatism inherent in our people which, however eloquently defended by orthodox advocates of caste, is manifestly one of the principal causes why the Indian craftsman lags so far behind in the modern race of nations. The healthy broadness of views, resulting from the dissemination of liberal English ideas among the masses, has, indeed, broken some of the most pernicious strongholds of the intellectual monopolies of India; but there are classes of men who still in obscure nooks of society keep to themselves what they regard as the treasures of professional secrets but what, after all, may be mere child's play to the eyes of the scientific world.
v1.c18.s6.3
To our enquiries about the nature of the *neharwala* and the *jamakwala* the deafest ears were turned. Our attempts to impress upon these people the necessity of the application of chemistry to improve their methods were mere cries in the wilderness. And it was not until we had spent several weeks in constant intercourse with these people that we could begin to collect the information necessary for such an inquiry. Bit by bit we gained from different sources some knowledge of the processes which are given below in a continuous and well-arranged form.