1903.] D. Hooper — Silajit : an ancient Eastern Medicine. 99 



account of its nature, or explain its origin with any degree of satisfac- 

 tion. 



Before describing what is at present recognised as medicinal silajit, 

 it will be convenient to allude to the varieties of substances under this 

 name which have been mentioned in Indian works or met with in the 

 bazars. 



In the first place, there is a kind of silajit which is of a mineral 

 nature, and is a more or less pure native aluminium sulphate. This 

 was described in 1833, by Mr. J. Stevenson, Superintendent of the Beliar 

 Saltpetre Factory (Jour. As. Soc. Beng. II. 321). It was found in Nepal, 

 and was widely used as a medicine to cure green wounds and bruises. 

 It occurred in small brownish-white lumps with a semi-crystalline struc- 

 ture internally. It consisted of 95 per cent, of aluminium sulphate 

 with 3 per cent, of iron. It sold for the high price of two rupees for a 

 rupee weight. In the same year Dr. A. Campbell, in a letter to the 

 Asiatic Society, (Jour. As. Soc. Beng. II. 482) confirmed the existence 

 and use of the alum earth, and stated that the average qualities con- 

 tained only 66 per cent, of aluminium sulphate. The price of the product 

 at Katmandu was from Rs. 11 to Rs. 15 a maund, but sold as a drug in the 

 bazar, its price was purely fanciful. The rocks, it was suggested, might 

 be lixiviated and be made to yield a larger supply, but it is very impro- 

 bable that it could be obtained in sufficient quantities to be of commer- 

 cial importance. 



Mineral silajit was again referred to in 1846, by Capt. Sherwell in 

 his account of Behar (Journ. As. Soc. Beng. XV. 58). This officer re- 

 ported that a small quantity of alum was manufactured from shales in 

 the Shahabad District ; these rocks probably belonged to the pyritous 

 shales of the Kaimur group of the Vindhyan series. The alum was sold 

 at the high price of one rupee a tola. It was identical with the silajit of 

 Nepal and was much esteemed as a drug. 



That the mineral silajit does not all come from Nepal is confirmed 

 by Dr. Hamilton in his account of Nepal, where he says: "I have collected 

 Salajit in Behar with my own hands." 



In the " Economic Geology of India," it is recorded that alum exuda- 

 tions or silajit are sometimes collected by the natives of Assam. 



More recent geological investigations in India have not brought to 

 light any fresh information regarding this aluminous mineral under the 

 name of silajit, and although fresh deposits have been discovered, such as 

 those in Baluchistan where it is called " Phul-Mak," they have not been 

 regarded as medicinal. 



The second variety of this substance, called Black Silajit, is quite a 

 different article to that just described. It is sold in the bazars of Calcutta, 



