The Ocean of Mercury

PREFATORY NOTE

The Rasārṇava Ocean of Mercury, a twelfth-century Sanskrit treatise on Alchemy transmutation of metals, is one of the most important scientific works of medieval India. It was edited from several manuscripts by the eminent chemist Sir Prafulla Chandra Roy and Pandit Harischandra Kaviratna and was published in the early years of the present century (1908-10) by the Asiatic Society. The book remained out of print for a long time and it was only during the bicentenary of the Society that a decision could be taken for its reprinting, keeping in view the importance of the work and the persistent demand from scholars for it. I hope the books newly printed by the Society will go a long way to meeting the needs of scholars and researchers.

12th March, 1985.

Chandan Roychaudhuri
General Secretary