3/6 



NATURE 



\_Feb. 19, 1880 



noticed among them certain traits which seem to me to 

 point to an affinity between them and two tribes of 

 Dravidians, with whom I have some acquaintance; these 

 are the Male's, or Rajmehal Paharias, and the Sowras, or 

 Savaras, of the tributary states of Orissa. The grounds 

 for this identification are not, it is true, very definite ; but 

 when visiting the villages of the Maids, many little things, 

 such as the erection of ornamental bamboos to ward off 

 evil spirits, and the store-houses raised on posts, recalled 

 to my mind similar objects in the Nicobars. In order to 

 test this supposition I have compared lists of Nicobarese 

 and Dravidian words, and the result is that some few 

 have proved to be identical, or nearly so." 



The following curious phenomenon is worthy of being 

 noted. Presumably the lime must be taken up in solution 

 by the roots in large quantities, and then deposited in the 

 manner described. 



" Some white marks on the cut stump of an Asan tree 

 (Terminalia tomentosa, W. and A.) caught my eye, and 

 these on examination proved to be the sections of laminae' 

 of calcareous matter, which alternated with the ordinary 

 rings of woody growth. How this calcareous mattei 

 found its way into such a position it is difficult to say, 

 but its occurrence is perhaps not more singular than that 

 of silica in the joints of bamboos, where, as is well 

 known, it sometimes forms what is called 'tabasheet.' 

 The rocks about were gneisses and schists, and I could 

 discover nothing in the soil to account for the peculiarity. 



"About a year previously, or in April, 1870, the fact ot 

 the occurrence of calcareous masses in timber had been 

 brought to the notice of tbe Asiatic Society of Bengal by 

 Mr. R. V. Stoney, who stated that many trees in the 

 Orissa Tributary Mehals have pieces of limestone (or 

 calcareous tufa) in fissures in them, but principally Asan 



Group of Nicobarese, Nankowri Isl 



{Terminalia tomentosa, W. and A.), Swarm (Zizypkus 

 rugosa, Lam. ?), Sissu (Dalbergia sissu, Roxb.), and 

 Abnus (Diospyros melanoxylon, Roxb.). In some cases, 

 irregular-shaped pieces, seven inches long by two inches 

 thick, were met with in the trunks at a height of about 

 six feet from the ground. By the natives the lime is 

 burnt, and used for chewing with pawn. Cn examination 

 it was found that there was no structure in these masses 

 which would justify a conclusion that they had been 

 formed by insects. Some included portions of decayed 

 wood seemed to be cemented together by the lime. 

 Though I have not had an opportunity of consulting- 

 many botanists on the subject, I believe it to be the case 

 lhat the occurrence of deposits of carbonate of lime in 

 timber has not been met with elsewhere. Oxalate of 

 lime is sometimes met with in vegetable tissues, but in 

 the form of carbonate, I am informed, however, that 

 there is no recorded case of lime having been found, and 



such also appears to have been the opinion of the late 

 Dr. Kurz." 



We had marked for further extracts some passages 

 from the author's account of his second trip to the 

 Andamans and Nicobars, made in 1873, and from his 

 account of the district about Orissa, and of his visit 

 to Afghanistan, but for these and many other such we 

 must refer the reader to the volume, feeling assured it 

 will be found very pleasant reading. In it there is much 

 about the economic resources of a great country, and 

 very many interesting details of several of the native 

 races. 



The Survey is happy in having on its staff one who by 

 this volume has proved the good use he has made of his 

 small amount of leisure time. We wish we could add 

 that such zeal and such knowledge had met with or were 

 sure to meet with a proper reward from those in whose 

 hands the destinies of India now lie. 



