August 1, 1864.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 47 



through a lengthened space ; together with many others, the fruits of 

 whose labours we are now reaping. 



" The following pages briefly record the births, deaths, and more 

 striking incidents in the lives of those benefactors to mankind. 



" ' Lives of great men all remind us we may make our lives sub- 

 lime.' — The truth of this is strongly enforced in the brief memoirs which 

 are included in this volume. They teach us that mental power, used 

 judiciously and applied with industry, is capable of producing vast 

 changes in the crude productions of Nature. Beyond this, they instruct 

 us that men, who fulfil the commands of the Creator and employ their 

 minds, in unwearying efforts to subdue the Earth, are rarelj unre- 

 warded. They aid in the march of civilization, and they ameliorate 

 the conditions of humanity. They win a place amongst the great names 

 which we reverence, and each one 



" 'becomes like a star 

 From the abodes where the Eternals are. ' " 



klmiik $nt£i 



Minerals op Ceylon. — Plumbago is the only mineral of import- 

 ance. In 1860 (an exceptional year in regard to this article), the export 

 rose to 75,660 cwts., from 23,823 cwts. in 1850 ; but in 1861 it fell to 

 38,345 cwts., the average of the past seven years being 29,594 cwt. : but 

 the export fluctuates exceedingly. It is generally of a coarse quality, 

 fitted for the lubrication of machinery, and for use in the arts in the 

 shape of crucibles for melting copper and the more precious metals. 

 Some is fine enough to be compressed into parcels, but for this purpose 

 the Ceylon plumbago is greatly inferior to that of the Somerset and 

 Cumberland hills. It is found generally pretty near the surface. In the 

 Western Province a royalty is charged by Government for plumbago 

 digging at 7s. 6d. per ton. In the Southern Proyince a duty of one- 

 tenth on the value of the article (usually reckoned at Al. per ton) is 

 levied, which is equal to 81. per ton. These two provinces are the only 

 two in the island which contribute any revenue on account of plumbago. 

 The amount received in 1861 was 383Z. Although occasionally a blue 

 sapphire or a ruby of some value turns up in the zygnamies or localities 

 worked, plumbago is the only mineral of any commercial importance. 

 There are about forty-two localities where iron-stone is dug for native 

 use. Most of the lime used is procured from coral and shells. The 

 gneiss of Ceylon is seldom used for building purposes, cabook (latirite) 

 being so mush easier worked. Sandstone is found on the sea-shore not 



