32. Chemical Examination of Aurvedic Metallic 



Preparations. 



Part I. 



Shahashra 



LAUHA M (IRON 



THOUSAND TIMES). 



By Punchanan Neogy, M.A., Professor , Rajshahi College, 



and Birbndra Bhusan Adhikary, M.A. 



The Aurvedic system of medicine has enjoined from a very 

 early age the use of metallic preparations. The method of 

 preparation in many cases, however, has now become out of 

 date and in some cases appears distinctly faulty according to 

 modern scientific ideas. It has appeared to us a very interest- 

 ing study to examine chemically these preparations, to identify 

 them, and wherever possible to suggest more improved and 

 modern methods of preparation. In this field Dr. P. C. Ray 

 has done some valuable pioneering work by analysing some 

 metallic preparations and incorporating the results in Ins His- 

 tory of Hindu Chemistry, Part I. Many salts other than those 

 examined by Ray have yet to be analysed, and the present 

 investigation is meant to be the first of a series of its kind. 



The principal compounds of iron used by our Aurvedic 

 physicians are * ' Shata-puta " and ' c Shahashra-puta ' ' lauha 

 (iron roasted a hundred and a thousand times). From their 

 methods of preparation we suspected them to be oxides of iron, 

 which, however, are not much used by allopathic physicians. 

 In order to study the degree of oxidation in the various 



' putas ' ' we attempted to collect samples from one ' ' puta 

 to thousand "putas," but we have been successful in getting 

 only a few intermediate u putas." 



The method of purification (affair) and roasting is given 

 in detail in Rasendra-shar-Shangraha. 



Method of Preparation as given in Rasendra-shdr-Shayigraha. 



Rasendra-shar-Shangraha first mentions many different 

 varieties of iron. ' ' The Krouncha iron is twice better than 

 ordinary iron, the Kalinga iron eight times better than 

 Krouncha, the Bhadra iron again hundred times better than 

 Kalinga, the Bajra iron a thousand times better than Bhadra, 

 the Pandi iron a hundred times better than Bajra, the Niran- 

 gairon ten times better than Pandi, while Kanta iron is a 



