102 D. Hooper — Silajit : an ancient Eastern Medicine. [No. 3, 



The bulk of the organic material consists of an acid which is 

 related to humic acid, a principle which by the way is not usually 

 administered by the general practitioner. When the aqueous solution 

 is precipitated by hydrochloric acid, and the precipitate washed and 

 pressed, it readily dissolves in warm alcohol. The lead salt of the 

 organic acid separated from the filtered solution, washed and dried, 

 afforded 54*91 per cent, of lead oxide. Heated in a dry test tube, 

 the silajit evolved white alkaline fumes with a strong empyreumatic 

 odour. 



The crystals formed on the surface of cakes of black silajit are those 

 of potassium and sodium carbonate. 



There are a few points of resemblance between this article and the 

 minerals belonging to the oxydised hydro-carbons. Dopplerite, for 

 instance, (Ber. Akad. Wien. 2.287, 1899 ; 52.281, 1865)is an acid substance 

 or mixture of different acids related to humic acid. It is insoluble 

 in alcohol and ether. The ash ranges from 3 to 14 per cent. It is found 

 in peaty beds, and shows the transition from peat to coal. 



It will be necessary in a few words to refer to the third kind 

 or white variety of silajit. Alum earth is sometimes supplied for this 

 substance, but only as a fraudulent substitute. The original white 

 silajatu is said to be obtained from crevices of rocks in the vicinity 

 of Mount Abu, and this variety is used largely in Rajputana. A sample 

 of white silajatu from Jeypur was shown to me two years ago. It was 

 a cream-coloured crystalline compound with a strong nauseous odour. 

 It was apparently of animal origin, and evolved gaseous ammonia 

 when mixed with slaked lime. It yielded 64 per cent, of pure urea 

 when determined from the amount of nitrogen given off by means of 

 hypobromate of sodium. It was, therefore, crude urea or inspissated urine 

 in a solid state. A reference to Taleef Shereef or Indian Materia Medica, 

 edited in 1833 by Dr. George Playfair, throws some light upon this source 

 of the drug. Art. 577. " Silajeet is the urine of the wild hill-goat, 

 which, when the animal is rutting, is discharged on the stones and 

 evaporated by the sun's heat. It is found in small quantities. Some 

 have said it is the urine of the wild ass, found as above. " 



In the Makhzhan-ul-adwiyah, a Persian work on Materia Medica 

 of great antiquity, it is said that silajit is generally found among the 

 haunts of monkeys, and that the drug is the alvine discharge of a 

 certain species with a black face and long tail. It distinguishes between 

 the salajit-i-asli, a black gummy inodourous substance, and salajit-i-nagli, 

 the evacuated substance with a nauseous odour and hard consistence. 

 The medicinal virtues of silajit are set forth in the Makhzan-ul-adwiyah. 

 Charaka, Susruta, Bhabaprokasha, and Bagbhata's Rasartna samuchchaya. 



