ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY. 



In the preceding pages, a brief outline of the Geological struc- 

 ture, and a few notices of the mineral products of the Khasi Hills have 

 been given. Some of these products are important, both from the ex- 

 tent to which they are wrought, and from their being the great source 

 of supply for the large demand of the Calcutta and other markets ; and 

 others from the possibility of then- being applied to meet a demand 

 at present unsatisfied. It will therefore be desirable to enter into 

 sornewhat greater detail respecting these. 



The most important are lime, coal and iron ; and in this order 

 I sball give a few further particulars of the circumstances under which 

 they occur, the conditions affecting their conversion, and the economical 

 purposes to which they are applicable. 



Lime. — The so-called " Sylhet limestone" has been long known. 

 I cannot find any record of its first use in the production of lime. At 

 least twenty years before the close of the last century, we find that the 

 Hon'ble Robt. Lindsay had directed his attention to this trade, and, 

 although known and carried on extensively before his day, he probably 

 was the first European who had exerted himself in the matter (a). 

 In 1828, Mr. Inglis was well established at Chatttic as an extensive ma- 

 nufacturer of lime (6) ; and in the year ISSO, the "manufacture of the 

 Sylhet lime" is described as a generally known trade (e). 



The neighbourhood of the Khasi Hills is still the great source of lime 

 for the supply of the Calcutta and other markets. 



The extent of this trade, and the importance of the product as 

 an element of progress in civilization, demand a brief reference to the 

 circumstances attending it. 



(a) Lives of the Lindsays, Vol. III. page 149. 

 (i) Asiatic Kescai-clies, Vol. XVIL, page 499. 

 (c) Gleanings in Science, Vol. 11, February 1830, pp. 61, 63, article signed T. E. 



