History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c36.s7.6

c36.s7.6

In the case of precious metals, however, adulteration was detected by an ingenious device, which may be regarded as a near approach to the principle of Archimedes, Thus, for testing the purity of gold the following instruction is given by Garuda. A wire of gold to be tested is drawn through the orifice of a corundum. In a similar manner another wire of the standard gold is drawn through the self-same orifice. As these wires are of equal diameters, equal lengths will have equal weights, provided the sample is pure.