Cii.vr. IV.] 



MANUFACTURES. 



455 



iiipulatiou was required for the extraction of camphor' 

 and the preparation of numerous articles spcciiied 

 amongst the productions of the island, aromatic oils^, 

 perfumes^, and vegetable dyes. 



Sugar. — Sugar was obtained not only from the 

 Palmyra and Kittool palms ^, but also from the cane ; 

 which, besides being a native of India, was also indigenous 

 in Ceylon.^ A " sugar mill " for expressing its juice 

 existed in the first century before Christ in the district of 

 the " Seven Corles," ^ where fifteen hundred years after- 

 wards a Dutch governor of the island made an attempt to 

 restore the cultivation of sugar. 



Mineral Paints. — Mineral preparations were made 

 with success. Eed lead, orpiment, and vermihons are 

 mentioned as pigments ; but as it is doubtful whether 

 Ceylon produces quicksilver, the latter was probably 

 imported from China'' or India, where the method of 

 preparing it has long been known. 



There is hkewise sufficient evidence in these and a 

 number of other preparations, as well in the notices of 

 perfumes, camphor, and essential oils, to show that the 

 Singhalese, hke the Hindus, had a very early acquaint- 

 ance mth chemical processes and with the practice of 



* Rajaratnacari, p. 133. Dr. 

 EoTLE doubts whether camphor was 

 known to the Hindus at this early 

 period, but " camphor oil " is re- 

 peatedly mentioned in tlie Singhalese 

 chronicles amongst the articles pro- 

 vided for the temples. — Royle's 

 Essay mi Hindoo 3Iedicine, p. 140 ; 

 Rqjavali, p. 190. 



* Mahmvanso, ch. xxv. p. 157. 



^ B.C. 161. 3Iahaioanso, ch. xxx. 

 p. 180. 



* " Palm sugar," as distinguished 

 fi'om " cane sugar/' is spoken of in 

 the Mahmvanso in the second centmy 

 B.C. ch. xxvii. p. 163. 



^ "Cane sugar" is referred to in 

 the Mahawanso B.C. 161, ch, xxvii. p. 

 162, ch. xxxi. p. 102. 



^ A.B. 77. 3Iahawanso, ch. xxxiv. 

 p. 208. 



■^ See antCjYol. I. Parti, ch.i.p. 20. 

 n. Both quicksilver and vermilion 

 are mentioned in the Rajaratnacari, 

 p. 51, as being in use in the year 20 

 B.C. Vermilion is also spoken of B.C. 

 307 in the Maliawanso, ch. xxvii. p. 

 162, c. The two passages in which 

 vermiliori is spoken of in the Old 

 Testament, Jerem. xxii. 14, and 

 Ezek. xxiii. 14, both refer to the 

 painting of walls and woodwork, a 

 purpose to which it would be scarcely 

 suitable, were not the article alluded 

 to the opaque bisulphuret of mercury ; 

 and the same remark applies to the 

 vermilion used by the Singhalese. 

 The bright red obtained from the 

 insect coccus (the vermicidus, whence 

 the original term '' vennilion " is 

 said to bo derived) would be too 

 transparent to be so applied. 



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