374 



NATURE 



\_Feb, 19, iS£o 



labours to a very select few. Not so with our Indian 

 geologist ; his special work is but little touched on in 

 This volume, though a glance at its 702nd page (Ap- 

 pendix G) shows the amount of that work accomplished, 

 in the form of Memoirs, Records, and Reports published 

 from time to time by the Geological Survey of India, to 

 have been both important and great. One great charm 

 of this journal lies in its many touches of nature. One 

 feels as one reads it that for the moment they are with 

 the journalist as he travels through some jungle, wanders 

 along the bed of some mountain torrent, or explores some 

 new coal-field big with promise. As a personal narrative 

 it is full of life, and what it may want in precision is more 

 than made up by the vivid pictures it presents. 



The volume opens with an account of the Ranigunj 

 coal-field, the largest and most important of those in 

 which coal is worked in India : — 



"The Ranigunj coal-field is the largest and most im- 

 portant of the areas in which coal is worked in India. 

 Its proximity to the main line of railway, and also to the 

 port of Calcutta, tends to give it pre-eminence over other 

 less favourably situated localities. In the year 1774 coal 

 was known to occur there, and so long ago as 1777 was 

 actually worked. In 1830 several collieries of consider- 

 able extent had been opened out, and were, we have 

 reason to believe, in a flourishing condition. The total 

 area of coal-bearing rocks which is exposed is about 500 

 square miles ; but it is possible that the real area may be 

 even double that, since on the east the rocks dip under 

 and are completely concealed by alluvium. Throughout 

 this area a central zone includes the principal mines, and 

 the chimneys which dot this tract constitute it the black 

 country of India. At the present time (1879) there are 

 about six principal European companies engaged in the 

 extraction of coal, while many minor firms and native 

 associations contribute to swell the total amount raised. 



" Formerly a large proportion of the coal was obtained by 

 open working; and quarries : but at the present day most 

 of the seams which were accessible in this way have been 

 exhausted, and regular mining is now carried on with 

 jnore or less system. The miners are, however, individu- 

 ally, in some cases, allowed a degree of freedom, or 

 rather licence, which would never be permitted in Euro- 

 pean mines. They chiefly belong to two races, the 

 Bhowries and the Sontals ; the former using the pick, 

 while the latter cannot be induced to work with any 

 other tool than a crowbar, with which they produce an 

 altogether disproportionate amount of small coal and 

 dust. The pillar and stall is generally practised in pre- 

 ference to the long wall system of 'getting' the coal. 

 None of the mines are of great depth, and a perfect 

 freedom from fire and choke-damp renders it possible to 

 carry on the work without its being necessary to adopt 

 the precautions which in England only too often fail 

 to secure the object aimed at. Many of the seams are 

 of considerable thickness ; one which is worked contains 

 nearly forty feet of coal. As a rule, however, the thick 

 seams, especially those in the lower measures, do not 

 contain the best coal. Compared with ordinary English 

 coal, the Ranigunj coals, and Indian coals generally, are 

 very much inferior in working power, still they are 

 capable of generating steam in both locomotive and 

 other engines, and for this purpose several hundred 

 thousand tons are raised annually from Indian mines." 



The many details in reference to articles of commercial 

 value to be found scattered through this volume may be 

 well illustrated by the following extracts, the first relating 

 to "cutch," the second to shell-lac : — 



"At this season a particular class of the natives were 

 engaged in preparing the substance called Koir, which 

 bears the commercial name of cutch, and is oiherwhe 

 known as catechu. The chopped heart-wood pf Acacia 

 catechu, Willd., is boiled down in earthen vessels, and the 

 resultant red liquid is subjected to further boiling, and, 



on arriving at a treacly consistency, is poured into clay, 

 moulds or wooden troughs. In some places I have been 

 told that the finer qualities are improved by being burieJ 

 for some months in the earth. It is an article of great 

 value, and the right to manufacture is fanned out by thc 

 Zemindars. It is exported to Europe for dyeing and 

 tanning, and in India it forms one of the constituents of 

 pawn for chewing. It is also employed for various other 

 purposes." 



In these countries the consumption of cutch is very 

 considerable ; it is chiefly in use for tanning manufac- 

 tured articles, such as the nets used in the herring and 

 mackerel fisheries. Cur next extract relates to an im- 

 portant production called shell-lac. Why is this term 

 sometimes, and in standard works, spelled with but two IPs? 



" This morning, before leaving the station, we visited a 

 shell-lac manufactory, and as the method by which that 

 useful article of commerce is prepared, and the source 

 from which it is derived are not generally known, I shall 

 endeavour to convey what I know of the subject as briefly 

 as possible. 



"Lac (or as it is called in Hindustani, lah) is secreted 

 by an insect (Coccus laced) on the branches and twigs of 

 certain jungle trees. The principal of these are the 

 khusum (S chic ich era jujugii), plas (Butea frondosd), and 

 bier (Zizypliusjujuba). The lac from the first-mentioned, 

 the khusum, is more highly esteemed than that from the 

 others. To some extent the lac is found occurring, so to 

 speak, spontaneously, and is collected by the forest tribes, 

 and brought by them to the fairs and bazaars for sale. 

 Where, however, there is a regular trade in stick-lac, 

 propagation of the insect is systematically carried on by 

 those who wish for a certain and abundant crop. This 

 propagation is effected by tying small twigs, on which are 

 crowded the eggs or larvae of the insect, to the branches 

 of the above-named species of trees. These larvae are 

 technically called 'seed.' The larvae shortly after 

 sowing spread themselves over the branches, and, taking 

 up positions, secrete round themselves a hard crust of lae 

 which gradually spreads till it nearly completes the circle 

 round the twig. At the proper season the twigs are 

 broken off, and we must suppose them to have passed 

 through several hands, or to have been purchased directly 

 from the collectors by the agents of the manufacturer. 

 On arrival at the factory, they are first placed between 

 two powerful rollers, which, by a simple arrangement, 

 admit of any degree of approximation. The lac is then 

 crushed off and is separated from the woody portions by 

 screening ; it is next placed in large tubs half-full of water 

 and is washed by coolies, male or female, who, standing 

 in the tubs, and holding a bar above with their hands, 

 stamp and pivot about on their heels and toes until, after 

 a succession of changes, the resulting liquor comes off 

 clear. Of the disposal of the liquor drawn off at the 

 successive washings I shall speak presently. The lac 

 having been dried is placed in long cylindrical bags of 

 cotton cloth of medium texture, and which are about ten 

 feet long and two inches in diameter. These bags when 

 filled have somewhat the appearance of an enormous 

 Bologna sausage. They are taken to an apartment where 

 there are a number of open charcoal- furnaces. Before 

 each of these there is one principal operator and two 

 assistants. The former grasps one end of the long 

 sausage in his left hand, and slowly revolves it in front of 

 the fire ; at the same time one of the assistants, seated as 

 far off as the sausage is long, twists it in the opposite. 

 direction. The roasting before the glowing charcoal, soon 

 melts the lac in the portion of the bag nearest the operator's 

 hand, and the twisting of the cloth causes it to exude and 

 drop into a trough placed below. The troughs which I 

 saw in use were simply leaves of the American aloe 

 (Agave americana). When a sufficient quantity, in a 

 molten condition, is ready in the trough, the operator 

 takes it up in a wooden spoon and places it on a wooden. 



