246 NILGHIRI HILLS. 



On that part of the hills East of Billicul which overlooks the Mysore 

 Gneiss ou the Neel- country, Gneiss of a somewhat similar structure 

 ^ *'^"®^' occurs, and again on the Lovedale flank of Elk 



Hill near Ootakamund ; in the Kaitee valley ;* and very extensively on 

 the Northern escarpment of the Dodabetta range. In these localities, 

 the slabs are in most cases much thicker than those quarried in Mysore, 

 Well adapted for quar- ^^^ ^^'^^ would be no disadvantage were blocks 

 ^^ ^' required for building purposes. Blocks of any size 



and tolerably definite in form might be separated by a proper arrange- 

 ment of blasting holes. 



The rocks of the Neelgherries are but rarely well jointed, and when 



they are so, the stone appears to have a greater 

 Jointing rare. 



tendency to decompose in consequence. There are, 



however, one or two localities on the Coonoor road where the rock is 



advantageously jointed for quarrying purposes, and large blocks of a more 



or less rectangular fonn might be obtained. The Gneiss of the Kundahs, 



especially in the neighbourhood of Sispara, is very 

 Gneiss of the Kundahs. _ _ _ . 



finely jointed, but the great distance of that loca- 

 lity from the inhabited part of the hills, and the difficulty of transport, 

 preclude the possibility of working the stone profitably. 



By far the most valuable of the crystalline rocks described in this 



„ . , , ,. , Memoir is the limestone near Coimbatoor.-f- which 



Coimbatoor limestone. ' ' 



Discovered by Dr. ^^^ ^^'^^ discovered by Dr. Cornish, the Civil 



Cornish. Surgeon at Coimbatoor. This stone might not 



only be employed for the manufacture, of lime of great purity, but 



moreover, owing to its softness and its non-liability 



Useful for lime-mak- -tit 



ing, or as a building to decompose, might be advantageously used as 

 stone. , ., ,. , . 



buildmg stone, excejDt tor such parts oi a structure 



" My colleague Mr. King furnished me the notice of these localities, 

 t The major portion of these remarks were embodied in a Notice of this limestone 

 published in the Madras Journal, Vol. Ill, page 60, new series. 



