CHAP. IV.] 



MANUFACTUKES. 



455 



nipulation was required for the extraction of camphor 1 

 and the preparation of numerous articles specified 

 amongst the productions of the island, aromatic oils 2 , 

 perfumes 3 , and vegetable dyes. 



Sugar. Sugar was obtained not only from the 

 Palmyra and Kittool palms 4 , but also from the cane ; 

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

 to Ceylon. 5 A " sugar mill " for expressing its juice 

 existed in the first century before Christ in the district of 

 the " Seven Corles," 6 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 vermilions are 

 mentioned as pigments ; but as it is doubtful whether 

 Ceylon produces quicksilver, the latter was probably 

 imported from China 7 or India, where the method of 

 preparing it has long been known. 



There is likewise 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, like the Hindus, had a very early acquaint- 

 ance with chemical processes and with the practice of 



1 Rajaratnacari, p. 133. Dr. 

 ROYLE doubts whether camphor was 

 known to the Hindus at this early 

 period, but " camphor oil " is re- 

 peatedly mentioned in the Singhalese 

 chronicles amongst the articles pro- 

 vided for the temples. ROYLE'S 

 Essay on Hindoo Medicine, p. 140 j 

 ftqjavaK, p. 190. 



2 MaJuiwanso, ch. xxv. p. 157. 



3 B.C. 161. Mahawamo, ch. xxx. 

 p. 180. 



* " Palm sugar/' as distinguished 

 from " cane sugar/' is spoken of in 

 the Mahawanso in the second century 

 B.C. ch. xxvii. p. 103. 



5 "Cane sugar" is referred to in 

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

 162, ch. xxxi. p. 192. 



6 A.D. 77. Mahawanso, ch. xxxiv. 

 p. 208. 



7 See ante, Vol. I. Part I. ch. i. p. 29. 

 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 Mahawanso, ch. xxvii. p. 

 162, c. The two passages in which 

 vermilion 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 vermiculm, whence 

 the original term " vermilion" is 

 said to be derived) would be too 

 transparent to be so applied. 



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