If more than one variety of fluid is ordered, then up to four sorts the usual proportion of four of fluid to one of ghrita or oil is observed, and these are boiled separately with each fluid; but, when the number of fluids exceeds four, each of the fluids ordered is taken in quantity equal to the oil or ghrita, and the whole boiled together.

Ghritapάka or preparation of medicated ghrita. The ghrita or clarified butter is first of all heated on a fire so as to deprive it of any water that may be mixed with it. A little turmeric juice is then added to purify it, as it is said, but the object, I suppose, must be to colour it. Ghrita thus purified is placed on a fire in an earthen, copper, or iron pan and melted with a gentle heat. Then the medicinal paste and fluids to be used are added, and the whole boiled together till the watery parts are all evaporated and the ghrita is free from froth. It is then strained through cloth and preserved for use. Ghrita thus prepared should be imbued with the colour, taste and odour of the medicines with which it has been boiled. It is recommended that the preparation of ghrita by boiling be not completed in one day, and that the medicines be allowed to remain in contact with the butter for some time, so that their active principles may be thoroughly extracted. The boiling process is carried on to three degrees, called, respectively, mridu, madhyama and khara pάka. In the first, the boiled paste is somewhat soft; in the second, it is dry and just soft enough to be made into pills with the fingers. In the third form, it is turned hard and dry. The intermediate form is preferred for internal administration and injection into the rectum, while the over-boiled form is used for external application. The under-boiled form is said to be suitable for use as snuff.

Tailapάka or medicated oils. In preparing these, sesa-mum oil should be used unless otherwise specified. Sesamum oil, before being boiled with medicinal substances, is coloured and purified as follows:- First of all it is heated to deprive it of any water that may be mixed with it; then the following substances are steeped in it for twenty-four hours, viz., madder one sixteenth part in weight of the oil, turmeric, wood of Symplocos racemosa (lodhra), tubers of Cyperus rotundus (mustaka), a bark called nalikά, the three myrobalans, root of Pavonia odorata (bάlά) and the tender shoots of Pandanus odoratissimus (ketaki), each one sixty-fourth part in weight of the oil. These ingredients in fine powder should be soaked in the oil, with the addition of an equal quantity of water for a day. The mixture should then be boiled till the water is evaporated, and finally strained. To the oil thus prepared, medicinal substances, in the form of paste, decoction, etc., are added in the same proportions as for the preparation of ghritapάka. They are then boiled together till the watery parts are all evaporated. When cool, the oil is strained through cloth so as to separate the solid particles. Some medicinal oils, and especially those used in the treatment of nervous diseases, rheumatism, etc., are subjected to a third process of boiling with various aromatic and fragrant substances. This is called the Gandha pάka or boiling for rendering the oil fragrant. The following substances, or as many of them as are available, are used for scenting medicated oils, namely, cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves, fenugreek seeds, saffron, leaves of Cinnamomum Tamala, white sandal wood, aloes wood, jatamansi root, Curcuma Zedoaria (sati), Cyperus rotundus (mustaka), kakkola (an aromatic seed,) resin of Pinus longifolius (gandhavirajά), storax, long pepper root, root of Andropogon muricatus (usira), nakhi (Unguis odoratus)* pouch of civet cat (khattάsi), camphor, musk, Permelia perlata (saileya,) root of Aplotaxis auriculata (kushta), seeds of Abelmoschus moschatus (latάkasturi), etc.

* This nakhi according to Rumphius who describes ten kinds of the odoriferous onyx which serve as the basis of the principal perfumes in the Indian Islands, (Herb. Amb. ii. c. 17) is the operculum or lid of the shells of Purpura and Murex, This being flat and something like a nail explains the origin of its name, - Royle's Antiquity of Hindu Medicine, page 144.

For four seers of oil, one tola of each of the above ingredients should be taken, with the exception of camphor which should be four tolas. These ingredients, with the exceptions noticed below, are reduced to a paste with water and added to the oil, which is then boiled with an equal quantity of water till the latter is evaporated, and lastly strained. Camphor, musk, storax and the substance called nakhi should be added after the process of boiling is finished, and the oil strained. Oils for rheumatism and nervous diseases, are sometimes rendered fragrant by the addition of camphor alone.

Castor oil and mustard oil are sometimes used in the preparation of medicated oils. The proportions of oil, medicinal substances and fluids are the same as with sesamum oil, but the preliminary preparation of these oils is different. Mustard oil is purified by being boiled with the following ingredients, namely, emblic myrobalan, turmeric, tubers of Cyperus rotundus (mustaka), root-bark of AEgle Marmelos (vilva), pomegranate bark, flowers of Mesua ferrea (nάgakesara), Nigella seeds, root of Pavonia odorata (bάlά), the bark called nalika, and belleric myrobalan, two tolas each, and madder sixteen tolas, for four seers of oil. These should be boiled together with sixteen seers of water, till the latter is all evaporated, and the oil should then be strained. It is now fit for being boiled with medicinal substances, the process for which is the same as for sesamum oil above described.

For purifying castor oil, the following ingredients are used, namely, madder, tubers of Cyperus rotundus (mustaka ), coriander, the three myrobalans, leaves of Sesbania aculeata (vaijayanti), Pavonia odorata (hrivera), wild dates, tender red buds of Ficus (Bengalensis (vatasunga), turmeric, wood of Berberis Asiatica (daruharidra), the bark called nalikά, ginger and the shoots of Pandanus odoratissimus (ketaki), each half a tola for four seers of oil. Castor oil should be boiled with equal parts of whey and kάnjika (fermented paddy water ) along with the above ingredients.*

* The processes above described, for the preliminary purification of oils before being boiled with medicinal substances are not adopted by the physicians of upper India. They are not mentioned by the ancient writers and are the inventions of recent Bengali authors.