44 ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, ( CEYLON BRANCH.) 



Magnetite, a very highly magnetic iron ore, is found in the 

 Pussellawa district with a peculiar cleavage and fracture. 

 Botryoidal limonite, an oxide of iron found under the cinnamon 

 sand near Negornbo. Haematite occurs in other parts of the 

 island. 



Traces of gold and platinum I have met with in the Ram- 

 boda and Kurunegala districts. Extensive beds of quartz 

 occur in the Pussellawa district, which is not much unlike the 

 reef-bearing quartz of the Wynaad. 



In some localities the felspar of the gneiss is much decom- 

 posed and forms large masses of kaolin {liirimeti of the 

 Sinhalese), occurring largely in the Nuwara Eliya and Maturata 

 districts. This is capable of being made into a very fair 

 porcelain. 



Large masses of Alluvium occur on the Nuwara Eliya plain, 

 and shew us the remains of the surrounding hills, deposited no 

 doubt in a former lake. 



In the alluvium of many of our river basins, notably at 

 Ratnapura, we have numerous minerals — the gems for which 

 this town is so noted. I will briefly notice some which I have 

 gathered there. 



First, I will deal with the Corundum or Sapphire family, 

 which crystallizes in the hexagonal system. If a stone of this 

 family lacks transparency and is dull, we call it corundum: it is 

 useful as a powder (emery) for cutting other stones. If of a 

 rich blue color it is called sapphire ; of white, white sapphire ; 

 red, ruby; purple, the oriental amethyst ; of yellow, the oriental 

 topaz ; of green, the oriental emerald. 



Some of the sapphires are partly blue and partly white. 

 The Sinhalese can, by heating these in a certain manner, distri- 

 bute the color evenly, or by greater heat can discharge the color 

 and so pass them off as white sapphires. The specific gravity 

 of such, however, is diminished. Many other stones, as the 



