The first comprehensive analysis of Asian Medical Alchemy, this book describes the use of herbo-mineral-metal based medicines as used in some of the world's oldest healing traditions. It offers a detailed exploration of Âyurvedic medicinal purification practices that seek to enhance the therapeutic potential of materials, metals and gemstones, as well as offering a concise overview of traditional and modern equipment and methods used in the manufacture of these medicines. The author's unique and fascinating account of the hidden alchemical arts also explains some of the historical background behind the on-going quest amongst Asian alchemists for immortality.

Arguably the oldest form of health care, Ayurveda is often referred to as the "Mother of All Healing." Although there has been considerable scientific research done in this area during the last 50 years, the results of that research have not been adequately disseminated. Meeting the need for an authoritative, evidence-based reference, Scientific Basis for Ayurvedic Therapies is the first book to analyze and synthesize current research supporting Ayurvedic medicine. This book reviews the latest scientific information, evaluates the research data, and presents it in an easy to use format. The editor has carefully selected topics based on the availability of scientific studies and the prevalence of a disease. With contributions from experts in their respective fields, topics include Ayurvedic disease management, panchkarma, Ayurvedic bhasmas, the current status of Ayurveda in India, clinical research design, and evaluation of typical clinical trials of certain diseases, to name just a few. While there are many books devoted to Ayurveda, very few have any in-depth basis in scientific studies. This book provides a critical evaluation of literature, clinical trials, and biochemical and pharmacological studies on major Ayurvedic therapies that demonstrates how they are supported by scientific data. Providing a natural bridge from Ayurveda to Western medicine, Scientific Basis for Ayurvedic Therapies facilitates the integration of these therapies by health care providers.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

In the context of life and civilization, the pharmaceutical industry is as old as human existence. Since time immemorial India had its own enriched indigenous tradition of medicine. The development of alchemy and its application for human welfare was also an important step in Indian scientific tradition. The present monograph is an innovative attempt to understand the history of the indigenous pharmaceutical companies in Calcutta during the colonial times. Here pharmaceutical companies have been viewed as an illumi­nating lens to understand the interconnectedness between Indian traditions of thought and Western science and subsequent develop­ment of pharmaceutical industry in colonial India. The entire gamut of discussion centres around the issues of medical education, medical services, public health, pharmaceuti­cal profession and politico-economic contexts of the development of pharmaceutical industry in colonial India. Three indigenous pharmaceuticals namely – Butto Krishna Paul & Co., Bengal Chemical & Pharmaceutical Works Limited, and East India Pharmaceutical Works Limited have been studied. The study not only portrays the politico-economic back­ground to the emergence of the pharmaceutical industry in colonial India but links it to the economic nationalism and the quest for self-sufficiency among Indian nationalists and entrepreneurs. The pharmaceutical industry in India can be symbolic of a cultural re­sponse to modern science which was to pave the subsequent trajectory of national scientific endeavours in India. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Verse work on mercury and its uses in the ayurvedic system in Indian medicine.