A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c34.245

v2.c34.245

The colours (and other qualities) of a simple substance (an isomeric mode of any Bhúta) are the result of the potencies lodged in that particular collocation of Mass, Energy and Essence. Now when two such substances unite, their colours etc. tend to be produced, but the combination brings on a fresh distribution of Energy, Mass and Essence, and the forces thus set free may powerfully modify or even extinguish the separate tendencies or potencies of the component simple substances. For example, when we prepare a collyrium by mixing equal parts of sulphur and mercury (the black sulphide of mercury) we find the resulting compound black. To explain this, it has to be remembered that each of the substances (sulphur and mercury) contains Sattva (Essence), Rajas (Energy) and Tamas (Mass) in different proportions, and that predominant Tamas (Inertia, Mass) always produces black, predominant Sattva (Essence) white, and predominant Rajas (Energy) red. Now in the black sulphide of mercury, the white of the mercury tends to produce white, and the yellow of the sulphur yellow; and if these tendencies were not obstructed, the result would be a mixed colour. But, in the particular collocation in question, the Tamas of the mercury becomes intensive (नोत्वण), and the black of the now intensive Tamas extinguishes the white in the uncompounded mercury, which was due to prevailing Sattva, as well as the yellow of the uncompounded sulphur, which was due to the combined operation of white-producing Sattva and red-producing Rajas. Again, when, with proper apparatus and by the application of heat, we combine mercury and sulphur to produce the red sulphide of mercury, the resulting colour is explained by the fact that in this new collocation the Rajas (Energy)—probably of the mercury, though Gangadhara does not specify—becomes intensive (तीव्र), and extinguishing both the white-producing Sattva of the mercury and the yellow-producing Sattva-Rajas of the sulphur, imparts a red colour to the compound. In these cases, as also in the formation of red by mixing powdered turmeric with lime, i.e., whenever a new colour is produced in the compound, it is to be explained by the dominance of Tamas, Rajas or Sattva, or their combinations, and the extinction of the uncompounded tendencies (or potencies) by the forces set free in the new collocation. But there are other cases where the colour of the compound is a mixed colour resulting from the colours of the combining substances, e.g., when sulphide of mercury and calcined tin are mixed, the resulting colour is evidently a mixed one (Pátala, pink), which is easily explained by the colours of the component elements (the red of the sulphide of mercury and the white of the calcined tin). In the same way, in a mechanical aggregate, as in a piece of cloth, the colour is white, where the threads are white.