394 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



The effect, as described Iby the few Europeans, principally mis- 

 sionaries/ who live in the country, has been to cause those who 

 knew, or thought they knew, other localities where similar stones 

 were to be found to remain silent, and to conceal evidence of their 

 knowledge so as to escape oppression. 



Many of the specimens which have been examined are well- 

 formed double hexagonal pyramids ; their surfaces are often much 

 covered with small crystals of tourmaline, which also penetrate the 

 mass. A thin coating of a white mineral, supposed to be gihhsite, 

 occurs on some of the specimens ; and chlorite also occurs with the 

 sapphires, besides other varieties of corundum and magnetite. 

 Since corundum in various forms is a known product of many 

 parts of the peninsula of India, and is mined for, and has a com- 

 mercial value with the natives,^ it is not improbable that sapphires 

 have been occasionally met with ; one, for instance, which is men- 

 tioned in books on precious stones as " the wooden-spoon seller's 

 sapphire," is said to have been found in Bengal ; but I have been 

 unable to find any definite record of a sapphire mine in that 

 country. Like other jewels, sapphires have been always abundant 

 in the Indian marts since the earliest times, when they were known 

 to Europeans as hyacinths, a name derived from the Arabic and 

 Persian yacut. The term was also applied to a variety of garnet ; 

 but the evidence distinctly points to their having been imported 

 from Ceylon, and to a small extent from Burmah. It is note- 

 worthy, as regards the latter country, that sapphires occur as 

 sparingly in the Kyatpen (often incorrectly written Capellan) ruby 

 mines as rubies do in the Cingalese sapphire mines. 



The above abstract of information regarding these mines was 

 prepared some time ago, and it is now communicated to the Society 

 in consequence of a recent acquisition by the Museum of one fine 

 specimen, and some smaller fragments. They were brought to Mr. 

 Moss by a gentleman, who informed him that they were a remnant 

 of a large quantity purchased from a native, who came from a 

 locality situated about 150 miles north of Simla. The locality 

 mentioned above is much further away ; but the discrepancy is of 



^ Rev. A. W. Heyde, Eev. M. B. Carleton, "W. Graham, formerly of Kulu, and a 

 writer in the Lahore paper, signing himself S. B. L. 



^ I was recently told by Dr. Isaac Lea, of Philadelphia, that some considerable 

 shipments of Indian corundum had been received there. 



