History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c36.s5.36

c36.s5.36

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