60 SANSKRIT MATERIA MEDICA 



take of leaf -gold one tola, mercury eight tolas, beat into a mass, 



then add sulphur sixteen tolas, and rub together till the mass 



becomes black. Kub this mass repeatedly with the juice of the 



red cotton flower and of Aloe Indica, and dry. Now take a bottle 



with a flat bottom, wrap it with layers of cloth and clay to 



strengthen it, and dry. Place the mixture of gold, mercury and 



sulphur at the bottom of the bottle, insert it in a sand-bath upto 



its neck and cover the mouth lightly with a piece of ctalk. 



Apply heat gently at first. When the process of sublimation 



commences the heat should be increased, and the chalk-stopper 



removed. The sulphur now burns with its characteristic blue 



flame at the mouth of the bottle and a red sublimate collects 



below its neck. The narrow neck of the bottle is apt to be closed 



with sulphureous deposits and when there is this tendency, it 



should be cleared with an iron rod. The sublimation is over in 



the course of about nine hours. When done the bottle is broken, 



and the sublimate extracted from its neck in the shape of shining 



dark red scales. In this process the sulphur and mercury are 



sublimed in the form of red sulphide, and the gold remains at 



the bottom of the bottle. The latter may be used again in the 



preparation of Makaradhvaja or converted into powdered gold. 





Makaradhvaja 



of one grain daily with 



honey or other suitable adjuncts in nervous debility, weakness of 

 brain from excessive mental labour, habitual costiveness, general 

 debility, female complaints after "delivery, spermatorrhoea etc. 



Chandrodaya makaradhvaja. 1 When Makaradhvaja is adminis- 

 tered as an aphrodisiac, it is usual to mix it with some stimulant 



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