Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Unani
Blue vitriol (copper sulphate) (Chalcanthite), of the sulfate mineral family. Deep blue triclinic crystals and crusts, freely soluble, effloresing to a pale greenish-white powder in dry air; native range: a secondary mineral efflorescing in the oxidised zone of copper sulfide deposits and on old mine walls; the article of commerce is made by acting on copper with sulfuric acid. Globally recognized as tuttha, mayura tuttha in Sanskrit, nila thotha in Hindi, tutiya-e-sabz in Arabic/Urdu, and blue vitriol, bluestone, chalcanthite in English. The part used is the purified salt. A vivid sky- to sapphire-blue, glassy and translucent, dissolving readily to a blue solution, with a strongly metallic, nauseous, astringent taste that provokes the stomach at once.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
BLUE VITRIOL
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- blue vitriol (copper sulphate)
- Scientific name
- Chalcanthite (hydrated copper sulfate, CuSO₄·5H₂O)
- Family
- sulfate mineral
Form
- Part used
- the purified salt
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- astringent (kashaya)
- Unani
- astringent · acrid
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Unani
- hot & dry (3rd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- stomach · skin
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- vamaka (emetic), lekhana (scraping), netrya (benefits the eyes), krimighna, kushthaghna, vranashodhana (cleans wounds), kaphahara
- Unani
- muqai (emetic), akkal (escharotic and caustic), habis (styptic), jali (detergent), qatil-e-kirm (kills worms)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pregnancy, children, the weak; gastric ulceration; never the raw crystal internally, and never as a routine emetic
- Toxicity
- a corrosive copper salt. Swallowed in quantity it burns the gullet and stomach, and causes vomiting, bloody purging, haemolysis, jaundice and liver and kidney failure; its old use as a routine emetic killed people and has been abandoned. Absorbed from raw surfaces.
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