1867.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 53 



Grindlay & Co., whom the Colonel kindly promises to advise of its 

 expected arrival and have it sent to me here. 



" The reason for going so far, for so small a matter is, — that the 

 stones of this country are too soft, or too large-grained, or too fissured, 

 or too permeable by water : and I hope, from what I have heard of some 

 Indian minerals, to get something supereminent in hardness, fineness 

 of grain, toughness, freedom from fissures and crystallization, and 

 proof against the entrance of water. 



" Corundum has been mentioned ; but that will not do, for though 

 hard enough, it is crystallized, and a lump would probably be only a 

 brittle congeries of small crystals. 



" Basalt has been mentioned, and if India has basalts like some of 

 those in Upper Egypt, viz. excessively fine-grained, tough, compact, and 

 free from fissures and tendency to fissure, over lengths of 8 and 9 inches, 

 — it might do well. The basalts of Scotland are far too coarse-grained 

 and full of fissures. 



11 A pudding stone from Agra that I have seen, contains particles of 

 jasper, whioh promise to be better still, if the original rock of it, the 

 jasper, could be got at. Its colours are red, brown and black, the grain 

 almost infinitely fine, the hardness far above steel ; being too, I 

 presume, a sedimentary, argillaceous rock, altered by plutonic heat, 

 I should expect more toughness, freedom fron fissures, and more 

 uniformity than in basalt, 



" If too, you can get one example, which will stand all these tests, — 

 I should much like to hear whether more examples perfectly similar 

 could be afterwards procured, and at what price. The purpose is, to 

 form small standard scales of 5 to 10 inches in length, and likely to last 

 unaltered in length and quality for a much longer time than the metals 

 hitherto used for that purpose. Something capable of going down to 

 all posterity, without sensible change, during 5,000 or 10,000 years." 



In commenting on the above, the Secretary said he had brought the 

 note before the meeting with a view of soliciting the aid of Members 

 through the medium of the published Proceedings. He would especi- 

 ally note, as promising stones, the jasper of the Sone and Nerbudda 

 valleys, and the Jade, large lumps of which are sometimes to be 

 obtained in the bazaars. 



