Page:A History of Hindu Chemistry Vol 1.djvu/222

72 'Gold, silver, copper, iron, tin and lead' these are the six metals and their resistance to waste [i. e. rusting] is in the order in which they have been mentioned."

"Hear attentively as I shall now speak of the killing of metals.

"There is no such elephant of a metal which cannot be killed by the lion of a sulphur."

Bhairava said: "Kāsisa, rock-salt, the pyrites, sauvira , the aggregate of the three spices , sulphur, saltpetre, the juice expressed from mālati —all these moistened with the juice of the root of moringa pter., makes a vida, which would kill all [the metals]."

"Sulphur, orpiment, sea-salt, salt, sal-ammoniac, borax—these digested with the ashes and the urines, give rise to another kind of vida." * * * * * * Having thus collected the ingredients, O goddess! begin the chemical operations. I have told you all, what more do you want to hear?"