70 HOLLAND: MICA DEPOSITS OF INDIA. 



and Lahaul, and whilst the conditions for the formation of mica have 

 been typically developed, the conditions for the preservation of large 

 sheets are wanting : no area could more perfectly impress the fact that 

 marketable mica requires an exceptional combination of special circum- 

 stances which can only be obtained within limited areas (cf. Introduc- 

 tion, p. 1 1). 



RAJPUTANA. 



Ajmere-Merwara. 



Dr. R. H. Irvine says the mineral is abundant in the Ajmere dis- 

 trict, where large plates can be extracted. 1 The latter statement is 

 confirmed by the specimens recently sent by the Extra Assistant Con- 

 servator of Forests, who states that prospecting licences have been 

 granted, but no extensive work so far carried out. The mineral is said 

 to occur near Ajmere, Tilana and Bhinai in the Ajmere district, and at 

 Rawatmal, Kalinjar, Suliakhera and Salupura in Merwam. 



Jaipur. 



A plate of muscovite measuring 10^x5^ inches was sent to the 

 Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886. The quality was, however, 

 inferior to Hazanbagh mica, and the mineral does not appear to be 

 raised for export. 



Kishengarh. 



Specimens of mica obtained from this State in 1898, and sent to 

 the Imperial Institute by the Reporter on Economic Products to the 

 Government of India, were considered by experts in the London 

 market to be quite worthless, the chief defect being the striated and 

 cracked condition of the sheets. 2 The specimens were not, however, 

 intended to represent the best or even the average material obtainable 

 in the State, but were mere surface specimens sent for a preliminary 



1 Irvine, Topography of Ajmere, 1841, p. 165. 



* W. R. Dunstan, Agricultural Ledger, No. 2 of 1900, p. 20, and No. 24 of 

 1900, p 229. . 

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