Comparative chemical study of three different market samples of an important clay mineral drug “Gil-e-makhtum” with a brief ancient description of earth’s natural resources

The medical use of earth’s natural resources or mineral drugs is probably as old as the history of man kinds and has been used widely for the ailments of many diseases despite knowing the presence of chemical constituents or pharmacological activities of that particular substance but in the present era, with the modern techniques much more research work has been done to know the active components and their pharmacological properties which could have now been used in the modern medicine. Among the various earth natural resources or mineral drugs Gil-e-Makhtum (Sealed earth or the type of clay) also known by the name Lemnian earth, is a medicine in the shape of a stamped clay tablet (Sphragis) from Lemons, northeastern Greece, was much valued in antiquity and is utilized as such as well as an ingredient in the number of compound formulations in the Unani system of medicine for the treatment of various diseases. In this paper with the description of the brief history of Earth’s Natural Resources, the comparative chemical study of three different market samples of Gil-e-Makhtum was carried out by following some parameters of qualitative analysis and quantitative estimations. The analysis included Loss of weight on drying at 105°C, solubility in 1 normal hydrochloric acid and water, total ash, acid insoluble ash, bulk density, and tapped density. Besides, some major estimations e. g. Hematite (Fe2O3), Alum (Al2O3), Quartz (SiO2), and Calcium oxide (CaO) were also carried out.