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ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, (CEYLON BRANCH.) 



in sea or lake, we are unable to say, for the metamorphism 

 which these beds have undergone (due to internal heat, pressure, 

 time and various other causes) has obliterated all traces of fossil 

 remains. Over this gneiss around Colombo and in many other 

 parts of the island, we have the well-known laterite or cabook, 

 so largely used for building purposes. This formation has 

 given rise to much discussion. It is essentially a derivative 

 from the gneiss ; and, beyond doubt, in many cases in situ, as is 

 evident in several cuttings which have been made, a notable one, 

 which I visited some time ago, occurring in a cutting made while 

 searching for plumbago between Polgahawela and Ambepussa. 

 In many ravines in the hill districts of the Island, especially in 

 Dimbula and Dikoya, we have an iron conglomerate at present 

 in course of formation, composed of the debris of surrounding 

 rocks, firmly held together by ferruginous matter, which rock, 

 when subjected to decay, would furnish a formation exactly akin 

 to our laterite. I have dealt with this subject (Laterite) at 

 greater length in a paper to the Royal Academy of Sciences, 

 Sweden. 



In the north of the Island we have a formation of the 

 Mesozoic, or secondary period, viz., the Cretaceous. These beds 

 are no doubt cotemporaneous with the Pondicherry beds, which 

 have yielded numerous fossils, by which their age has been 

 determined. I have no doubt that many fossils might be 

 gathered in our Northern Province by those interested in 

 Palaeontology. Once, it is recorded, this Society possessed in 

 its Museum a fossil phalange from this district, but it has 

 been lost. 



Of recent formations, we have on the sea coast between 

 Negombo and Mount Lavinia, and for some distance beyond 

 these places, a recent breccia formed of particles of disinte- 

 grated rock, more or less compact. At Talpitiya it occurs at a 

 considerable distance from shore (300 yards), and at a depth of 



