28 SANSKRIT MATERIA MEDR'A. 



from all sorts of diseases, It is said that the physician who does 

 not know how to use this merciful gift of God is an object of 

 ridicule in society. 



Good mercury is said to be bright like the mid-day sun exter- 

 nally, and of a bluish tinge internally. Mercury of a yellowish- 

 white, purple, or variegated colour should not be used in medicine. 

 Mercury, as met with in commerce, contains several sorts of im- 

 purities, such as tin, lead, dirt, stone, etc. If administered in 

 an impure state it is said to bring on a number of diseases ; 

 hence it is purified before use. Various processes for purifying 

 mercury are described in books. At the present day the following 

 is generally adopted by Kauirujas. Mercury is first rubbed with 

 brick-dust and garlic, then tied in four folds of cloth and boiled 

 in water over a gentle fire for three-hours in an apparatus called 

 Dold yantra. When cool, it is washed in cold water and dried 

 in the sun. Some practitioners use betle-loaves instead of garlic 



for nibbing the mercury with. Mercury obtained by sublima 



hon of cinnabar is considered pute and preferred for internal 

 use. 1 Cinnabar is first rubbed with lemon juice fur ihiee hours, 

 and then sublimed in the apparatus called Urddhapdtana yantra. 

 The mercury is deposited within the upper pot of the apparatus, 

 in form of a blackish powder. This i.s scraped, rubbed with 

 lemon-juice and boiled in water, when it is fit for use. A peculiar 

 form of mercury called Shqdguna balijdrita ram 2 ie thai prepared, 

 A little sulphur is placed in* an earthen pot, and over it some 

 mercury. The pot is heated in a sand-lath, and, as the sulphur 

 begin* to melt, cautiously and gradually more of it is added to 

 or placed over the mercury, altogether to the extent of six times 



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