A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c32.s5.8

v2.c32.s5.8

1 pala of tin should be taken and rubbed with 10 nishkas of mercury and made into a cake with the addition of zinc;* it is then to be digested with the decoction of certain herbs and plants and warm vinegar and once more rubbed with ½ pala of blue vitriol † and the juice of *Abrus precatorius*. The mass is then to be divided into small pills; these should then be put into a crucible with the lid on and the fire to be urged by means of bellows. The essence is then to be taken out of the crucible. This essence of the weight of 10 Sānas is then to be enclosed in a mixture of ashes and salts and roasted. This essence of the weight of 2 nishkas is then to be fused with 80 times its weight of lead * * * . This (essence) is also termed chapala. Cf. "the gold-like alloy" in Vol. i, pp. 74-75.