as SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



NOTES AND REVIEWS. 



1. Crystalline Rocks of Ceylon. — Mr. A. K. Coomaraswaray , the 

 newly appointed Government Mineralogist, has published an 

 important series of papers relating to the Geology of Ceylon, more 

 especially concerning the crystalline limestones and gneisses. 

 One of the general conclusions to which the author's researches 

 have led him is this, that the crystalline limestones which are 

 found associated with the gneisses are probably of igneous origin, 

 not sedimentary. 



The following is a list of the papers referred to : — 



(1) Origin of the Crystalline Limestones of Ceylon. Geol. 



Mag. Decade IV., Vol. IX., No. 458, p. 375. August, 

 1902. 



(2) The Crystalline Limestones of Ceylon. Quart. Journ. 



Geol. Soc, Vol. LVIII., 1902, pp. 399-422, pis. XIII. 

 and XIV. 



(3) The Point de Galle Group (Ceylon): WoUastonite-Scapo- 



lite Gneisses. Ibid., pp. 680-689, pi. XXXIV., Map. 



(4) Serendibite, a new Borosilicate from Ceylon, by G. T. 



Prior and A. K. Coomaraswamy. Mineralogical 

 Magazine, Vol. XIII., No. 61, pp. 224-227, 1903. 



2. Zoological Gardens. — In view of the rumours which have 

 been circulating during the past twelve months or so regarding 

 the establishment of Zoological Gardens in Colombo, it is interest- 

 ing to read the "Report for the Year 1902" (Fourth Annual 

 Report), by Captain Stanley S. Flower, Director of the Zoological 

 Gardens at Giza, near Cairo, published by the Government of 

 Egypt Public Works Department, Cairo, 1903. 



During the five years 1898-1902 these Gardens have made 

 extraordinary advances in the number of animals kept in captivity 

 and in the erection of houses, paddocks, and cages to receive them. 

 The total number of animals (Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, and 

 Batrachians) alive in the Gardens on 6th October, 1898, was 270 ; 

 on the same date in 1902 the number was 923. 



The animals which are maintained in the Gardens are chiefly 

 Central African species, including several examples of one of the 



