lxxxiv Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Aug. 1844. 



not unattended with danger, gather it towards the end of the cold weather. It is valued 

 as a great restorative and aphrodisiac. On the table land of Rhotasgurh I have seen it 

 on the face of the great mural precipices, wearing the appearance of tar or pitch, or 

 oozing from the sandstone,* but being far beyond the reach of man, it may or may not 

 be this substance. The natives declared it is the Sitajeet. You will perceive mine has 

 a strong taste of alum. 



Lieut. Sherwill's specimen is on the table, and is a black aluminous shale, with an 

 acid efflorescence of alum, contaminated with a little iron. If abundant and accessible, 

 and with plenty of fuel at command, no doubt alum might be advantageously manu- 

 factured from it. Perhaps even by solar evaporation only? The aluminous efflor- 

 escence answers in many of its chemical characters to the Sitajeet described, and ana- 

 lysed by Mr. Stephenson in Vol. II. p. 321 of the Journal, but ours gives a light cloud 

 with nitrate of silver from the excess of sulphuric acid, and the same with oxalate of 

 ammonia, shewing, that it may contain a little lime. I also used ammonia to precipitate 

 the alumina in the gelatinous form. Heated in a platina spoon it melts and boils up 

 into a round dull greyish white bubble, which remains solid at a strong heat between 

 the forceps; moistened with nitrate of Cobalt it gives the usual blue colour. 



The description Lieut. Shervvill gives of the tar-like appearance of some of the 

 exudations, much reminds us of Buchanan's description of that which he visited at 

 Tapoban in the Rajagriha Hills in Behar. At page 255, Vol. I, of Martin's edition, 

 he thus describes the substance itself, after the detail of the locality and the manner 

 in which an old man of the Musahar tribe collected it before him. 



" When fresh from the rock, Sitajeet is of a dirty earth colour, and is always mixed 

 with impurities, that crumble into it from the precipice above. It it then about the 

 consistence of new honey, and has a strong rather disagreeable smell, although it cannot 

 be called very offensive. When kept in a bottle with a glass stopper for some months, 

 it acquires a deeper brown colour, and becomes thicker; and exposed to the air, it may 

 soon be made into pills. It seems to be very different from a substance which, in. 

 Nepal, is called by the same name. From the hot springs in the vicinity, and the 

 heat of the cave below, I suspect that it exudes from the action of subterraneous fire. 

 The natives pretend that monkies eat it, and attribute the small quantity procured to 

 their depredations; but I think that the circumstance is doubtful, and have no doubt, 

 that, with care and a ladder, several pounds might be procured, should it be found 

 useful ; but it owes its celebrity among the natives to its being supposed to possess the 

 imaginary quality of an aphrodisiac. When placed on burning charcoal, it swells a 

 little and smokes, and when heated red, is reduced to white ashes without emitting 

 flame. It cannot I presume, therefore, be considered as a bituminous or inflammable 

 substance, the only class of minerals to which it has any resemblance. 



* This may be Mineral tar and an indication of the presence of Asphalte. I wrote to Lieut. 

 S„ requesting hira to look for this mineral, of which I sent him also a specimen. 



