Page:A History of Hindu Chemistry Vol 1.djvu/122

 and prepared state, but in the latter we ought to be very cautious, for it is seldom sufficiently killed or removed from its native state, in which it is a dangerous drug."Ibid, page 26.

"Loha, 'iron.'—It is commonly used by physicians in India, but my advice is to have as little to do with it as possible."

Nor must we forget that so late as 1566 A. D. the Parliament and the Faculty of medicine, Paris, condemned and forbade what was regarded as the dangerous innovations of Paracelsus.

Apart from the historical data already adduced, the above extracts from a Mohammedan writer would show that the Hindus were perhaps the earliest in the field to advocate the internal use of mercury. Ainslie, in a note appended "Lepra Arabum," written in the early part of the last century, thus expresses his views on the subject:—