976 Museum of Economic Geology of India. [No. 106. 



terest of the private speculator, tend to develop the mineral and agri- 

 cultural resources of the country. An efficient means would also be 

 afforded, of imparting instruction to native youths, whose services may 

 be made available towards the gradual accomplishment of the objects 

 proposed, with reference to the vast extent of territory which is open 

 to investigation. 



It will be perceived from the above, that this Museum is not intend- 

 ed for the reception of specimens of rocks or fossils to illustrate points 

 of theoretical geology, but to exhibit those substances occurring occa- 

 sionally in the solid crust of the earth and others, which are applica- 

 ble to the useful purposes of life. 



To those therefore, who may be requested, or who may be desirous 



Mineral substances, to afford assistaucc in furtherance of the objects 

 here set forth, it will be sufficient to state, that, any mineral or metallic 

 substances, accompanied by specimens of the rocks in which they are 

 found, with descriptions of locality and mode of occurrence, will be of 

 service to a Museum of this description. The fissures and crevices 

 of rocky strata, either along shores, or in vallies and ravines, should be 

 examined, and indications will often be found in water courses and 

 river beds, whereby metallic ores may be traced to the source from 

 whence they have been abraded. Tin, gold, and platina are usually 

 found in such situations ; small rounded masses of the former, denomi- 

 nated stream tin, being scarcely distinguishable, save by their higher 

 specific gravity, from common pebbles. The sands of rivers should be 

 sometimes washed, as should also the alluvial detritus found in valleys 

 or beneath the surface of level plains. Indications of copper are often 

 afforded by a ferruginous and somewhat friable substance near the sur- 

 face, specimens of which are desirable, as they serve often, with practised 

 miners, to point the probable prospect of ore beneath. The vicinity of 

 rocks, coloured green, blue, &c. may also be worthy of examination. 



If with such specimens, the probable thickness of the stratum of rocks 

 in which they occur, its dip, including the angle of inclination to the 

 horizon, and direction of the beds by compass, be given, as well as the 

 direction of any fissures that may be observed, it will enhance the value 

 of the information afforded. A convenient size for specimens, is about 

 three inches square, and about an inch in thickness, those of the accom- 

 panying rock, may be four or four and a half by three inches, and about 



