|
It is said that stags and mountain goats eat snakes, after which they
graze upon mountain herbs. By the effect of these herbs, the snakes roll up into a spherical body in their stomachs. It would be better to call it the tiryaq-i-Faruq (best kind of theriac). It is natural and not artificially made from snake pills. Its poultice is applied together with the aqua of anise upon the site of the bite. The pain immediately disappears and the colour of the skin returns to its original form. Nevertheless, concretions and theriacs, for one reason or another, were held in great esteem in Beruni's time and his statements about theriacs bear a degree of emphasis that discloses to us the nature and effectiveness conceded to such medicines current in his age as in the following passage: It (i.e. the theriac) is collected in the treasuries of kings. It commands a very high price and people are excessively covetous of it. I
swear upon my life that it is the most precious of treasures as the soul enjoys and benefits from it more than from other jewels. He then proceeds to describe different kinds of theriac: Tiryaq-i-lahzah resembles it and is picked out of the eye of the stag.
It accumulates in the corner of the stag's eye as an exudate. The Razi brothers say that the price of one dirham of hajar al-Kibash ranges from thirty dirhams and a hundred dinars up to 200. Some persons claim that the Persian theriac is found in the spleen of the mountain goat in the manner of gawizan which is found in the spleen of the bull. Hamzah (al-Isfahani) says Jawizan, is an Arabic version of the Persian word, gawizan, which is a palish object like the eggyolk. It is found from one daniq up to four dirhams. When freshly taken out from the gall bladder, it is soft and roundish, but, when kept in the mouth for a little while, it congeals and becomes hardened. It frequently occurs in India and is brought from there. People use it in theriacs and believe that it opens up the intestines and expels bile in the manner of the Persian theriac. God knows best! If we analyse these passages, it would appear as if Beruni himself believes in the effectiveness of theriacs and hence he has sworn. He might also claim, with some justice, that he has to reproduce what he has heard, no matter what the veracity of the report, as he has to transmit to the reader his knowledge of it, It is worth observing how Beruni deals with the etymological origins
of drugs and establishes their identification. Describing the hajar al-bard, a stone that was claimed to disperse hoar-frost, Beruni first quotes from Hamzah al-Isfahani who attributes to it supernatural power of dispersing clouds. Without directly criticising him, Beruni goes on to observe: The foolishness and idiocy of such tales are self-evident. What else
|
||
|
|
||
|
xxiv
|
||
|
|
||