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XV. On the Formation of Sulphur in India> By Benjamin 

 Heyne, M.D. Botanist and Naturalist to the Hon. East 

 India Company, and Surgeon in the Madras Army*. 



OULPHUR has been considered to be indigenous onlv where 

 deep seated mines of metals are fnund, or where volcanoes 

 or earthquakes have ravag«rd the bowels and surface of a 

 country. Nothing therefore is known of its formation, 

 ror have analytical experiments afforded any other than 

 distant hints, and these so very indistinct that our muderi> 

 chemists have ranked it among simple substances. 



Circumstances requisite for the production of any par- 

 ticular substance sometimes, however, unite at accessible 

 places, and it then becomes possible for an attentive ob- 

 server to penetrate into such mysteries, and to develop 

 ihem where or when least expected. I will not say that 

 this is precisely the case here, but I trust that what I have 

 observed on this subject will not be thought altogether un- 

 worthy of notice. 



I must premise, that I have no where Found brimstone 

 on the peninsula of India, though always travelling and 

 inquiring into subjects of natural production and curiosity; 

 nor has it been discovered, as far as I know, by any other 

 person, either in a simple state or in combination. Once 

 indeed f understand, from very respectable authority, that 

 a large lump of very fine brimstone was found at Condapiity 

 in the Masulipatam circar, in the trunk of a Margosa tree, 

 [Melia azedarachta) torn up, and (as was supposed) shat- 

 tered to pieces by lightning ; I was therefore not a little 

 astonished when a substance m powder or small pieces 

 fevidently brims'one was shov^n me in the Northern circars, 

 \\'ith the intimation that it had been collected on the banks 

 of the Godavery. 



The place to which I was directed is not far from Mad- 

 dcpollam and Ammalapore, places situated about halt 

 Way between Coringa and Masuli|)atam, and between the 

 branches of the river Gc^davervj known for the manufac- 

 ture of fine long cloth, which is carried on to a £2;reat ex- 

 tent in this part of the country ; but, even there, this cir- 

 cumstance was unknown to all with whom I conversed. 

 My uuide however convinced me soon of the truth of this 

 assertion, by conduclijig me to a small village about twelve 

 miles east of Ammalapore, called Soora-Sauny-Yanam, 

 belonging to the Bommadauram Moolatc, one of the I'ed- 



* Corntniinicatcd by the author. 



G 3 datore 



