154 SPOLIA ZHYLANICA. 
Accompanying the seat was a heavy stone mortar for crushing 
dried roots, a copper cauldron, a root-cutter, and an iron style. 
The mortar is a massive oblong block of stone with deeply hollowed 
ends and four ellipsoidal slightly depressed grinding surfaces ; it 
measures 161 inches in height, nearly 10 inches across, the terminal 
holes 7 inches in diameter, one of them 43 inches, the other 3% 
inches deep; it is called behet ambarana kotana gala, meaning 
‘medicine grinding pounding stone ;” the af-gala or hand stone 
(seen in the mortar in fig.'3) is a combined pounder and roller for 
the preceding. 
Fie. 3.—STONE MormTrar. 
The cauldron or tachchiya is a round copper basin nearly 214 inches 
across, 5kinches deep, withiron handles but no distinguishing mark. 
Another one brought later to the Museum measured nearly 193 inches 
across, 74 inches deep, with brass handles and the mark of a dagoba 
or kota impressed beside one of the handles. ; 
The root-cutter or behet kapana giraya is a common. object of 
crude construction. 
What, to my mind, adds considerably both to the comparative 
importance and to the local interest of the Kurma-chakra is the fact 
that it is frequently to be seen branded upon the backs of the black 
draught bulls of Ceylon, as well as on cross-bred cattle, always across 
the sacral region. In the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the 
Royal Asiatic Society for the year 1873 there is a Paper’ entitled 
ee ee ee ee 
