A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c32.t1.90

v2.c32.t1.90

We have now arrived at what may be termed the modern period in Hindu chemistry and materia medica. The characteristic of this period is that over and above opium, we have some other foreign drugs incorporated into the materia medica. By the beginning of the 16th century A. D. the Portuguese had fairly established themselves at Goa and some other parts of India,∗ and as a result of intercourse with them, that dreadful scourge—the venereal disease—had made its appearance. Sanskrit medical treatises from the Charaka and Susruta downwards and ending with Sárngadhara are silent about this malady though they give fairly accurate descriptions of diseases of the genital organs (उपदंश). But syphilis had now to be reckoned with and a new name had to be coined for it. Accordingly we find Rasapradípa, one of the standard works of this period given to Tantric method of treatment, prescribing calomel and chobchini (China root, Smilax China, Linn.) for what is now termed for the first time Phirangaroga or the disease of the Portuguese. According to Flückiger and Hanbury "the use of this drug as a remedy for syphilis was made known to the Portuguese at Goa by Chinese traders about A. D. 1535." Thus from an independent source we can arrive at the approximate date of Rasapradípa. This work also gives us a detailed process for the preparation of mineral acids by distillation which is here termed samkhadrávaka (lit. a solvent for conch shells) and is described as "endowed with the property of dissolving metals." It is thus evident that the use of mineral acids as a solvent for metals was unknown in India before this time.* A very noteworthy circumstance in connection with this is that the Bhávaprakása, which is posterior to Rasapradípa, is silent about samkhadrávaka, which had come to be prescribed by this time as a favorite remedy for indigestion and derangement of liver and spleen; the solvents being borax, treacle, etc.—(cf. vol. i, p. 130). In the Bhávaprakása among the acids we have only the juices of acid fruits. This is only another instance of the danger one is liable to incur by drawing inferences from argumentum ex silentio.