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Mercury was reckoned as a very important metallic element. in Indian alchemy and believed to be able to 'transmute' base metals to gold, and to provide an 'elixir of life'. It was known as: raso rasendrah sutasca parado mitrakastatha rasa, rasendra, suta, parada and misraka' (1.68). Rasa is that rasanat sarvadhanujam rasa iti abhidhiyate which consumes all metals into liquid' or amalgamates (1.77). Parada takes the persons across the oceans of diseases'. Mercury was obtained by distillation of cinnabar or hingula/darada in a Vidyadhara Yantra (9.57). The distillate was called hingulakrsta rasa (8.37). Cinnabar was known to occur in two varieties: low quality sukatunda or carmara and good quality hainsapada, having white lines and looking like coral (3-141-144) Yasodhara had quoted Nagarjuna in his Rasaprakasa sudhakara: parado rasakascaiva dehalohakaravubha that both rasa or parada (mercury) that both rasa or parada (mercury) and rasaka (zinc ore/metal) when administered, make the body strong. Both the metals are distillatio

IX-16 products, and hence the similarity in the names: rasa and rasaka. Rasaratna-samuccaya stated that rasaka or calamine occurred in two forms: durdura, full of flakes or laminated, and Karavellaka, which is non-1 aminated (2.149). Other Rasasastra texts have provided other synonyms for rasaka such as kharpara, netrarogari (zinc salt might have been used in eye-ointments), ritikrt, tamraranjaka etc. Mrttika type ore is yellow, rich in metal, not losing weight when heated. Guda and pasana varieties are of inferior quality. Calamine was supposed to be purified by roasting and plunging in acidic lemon juice, urine, or sour gruel (2.154-155). Zinc ore of Rajasthan occurs in calcitic and dolomitic gangue. Probably the operation recommended in Rasaratna-samuccaya removed carbonates by thermal decomposition and acidic dissolution. Smelting involved reduction-roasting of zinc ore with carbonaceous materials and borax in brinjalshaped crucible or vrntaka musa: vrntaka akara bhusayam nalam dvadasakamgula m dhatturapuspavat ca urdhvam sudrddham slistapuspavrta astamgulam ca sacchidra sa syat vrttaka bhusiko anaya kharparadinam mrduna satvamaharet || Rasaratna-samuccaya 10.22-23 'Vrntaka musa or brinjal-shaped crucible is attached with a twelve- -angula long tube over it like an inverted flower of dhattura. A hole is made at the length of eight angula in the tube. This crucible is used for the extraction of satva (metal zinc) from the soft drugs like kharpara etc...

IX-19. Several techniques of smelting were discussed. According to the first method, the dried charge was to be heated in the crucible, closed and stacked one over another (musam musopari nyasya) and the reduction was supposed to be complete as soon as the blue flame (due to carbon monoxide) turned white (jvala bhaved nila sita yadi), when the crucible was to be gripped by a pair of tongs and tilted to pour the molten metal (2.157-161). The second method involved mixing the charge thoroughly with binders. and putting this in the crucible as pellets (gutikakrti) (2.163-164). The third method involved distillation of the produced zinc metal in of the the inverted crucible (adhomukham musa) and collection condensed vapour in a vessel filled with water kept in a hermetically sealed sattv=m) container below the crucible (patitam sthalika nire (2.165-166) This last method was commercially followed in India. Rasaratna-samuccaya described several varieties of brass or pittala: artha picalam ritika, kakatundi ca dvividham pittalam bhavet | santapta kamsika ksipra tamrama ritika mato || evam ya jayate krsna kakatunditi sa mala || gurvi mrddica pitama saramgi 迟补啷渘补办蝉补尘补 ! susnigdha masrnamgi masrnamgi ca ritireta husi subha | putigandha tatha laghvi ritirnesta rasadisu | Pittala is of two kinds ritika and kakatundi. . The former on being heated and plunged into sour gruel, turns copper-coloured; the latter one turns black by the above treatment (5.191-193) 11

IX-20 A good variety of ritika or riti was stated to be heavy, soft, yellow, resistant to hammering or malleable (tadanaksama), brilliant and smooth. An unsatisfactory variety is pale yellow, hard, rough with spots, not malleable, foul-smelling (high sulphur?) and not suitable for medicinal purposes (5.193-194). Presumably the 'good variety of ritika or riti is alpha - brass which is known to withstand a remarkable degree of deformation by cold work without the slightest sign of fracture. The other variety of ritika, which is not malleable, could be either high zinc (more than 30 percent)-beta-brass, having low ductility, or leaded brass. For making statues, 1-4 percent lead is added in brass to help in fluidity during casting. But lead is almost insoluble in the liquid and solid brass phases, and thus a little excess of lead appears as black globules and elongated grains; this also causes the turnings to break up into small pieces. Kakatundi was probably leaded brass, the source of lead being the zinc ore itself. The Rasaratna-samuccaya mentioned (8.18-19) that lead was often used to make sulvanaga or copper-lead alloy. Brass used to be killed for medicinal purposes by heating with sulphur, orpiment etc. (2.167 and 5.201).