[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Science, technology and education](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science) › [A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D.](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.ray-1902) › v2.c32.s15.3 # A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c32.s15.3 A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c32.s15.3 - **Language:** English ### [v2.c32.s15.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.ray-1902.v2.c32.s15.3) A kind of oil is exuded from the bulbous root of a plant; all around it within a radius of ten cubits oily water is exuded and a venomous snake lives under it. If you want to test the properties of the bulb, you should thrust a needle into it, and the needle at once dissolves. Having procured this bulb, rub it with mercury in a mortar and add the oil and subject the mixture to heat in a crucible. The mercury is at once \*killed\* and acquires the property of converting one hundred thousand times its own weight of the base metal into gold.\* 14-18 - [Previous: v2.c32.s15.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.ray-1902.v2.c32.s15.2) - [Next: v2.c32.s15.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.ray-1902.v2.c32.s15.4) - [Up: v2.c32.s15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.ray-1902.v2.c32.s15) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.ray-1902.v2.c32.s15.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.ray-1902.v2.c32.s15.3) · Pramāṇa