Page:A History of Hindu Chemistry Vol 1.djvu/178

28 powers. The refuge of the tastes are the modifications of the five primal elements (of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether or Space). The tastes, again, depend upon the (original) nature of their refuge, the modifications of that refuge, combinations of the substances that form their refuge, as also place, and time.

"The virtues or properties (attaching to the tastes) occur in those which constitute the refuge (of the tastes), called objects. Those virtues are heavy, light, cold, warm, oily, dry and others.

"Kshāra (alkali) is so called from its being produced by ksharana (dropping down or straining). This is not a taste. It is, on the other hand, an object. It is, in fact, produced from many kinds of taste. Hence, it has many tastes. Among them, pungent and saline predominate. It is composed of many objects of the senses. It is manufactured with the aid of different processes.