230 



JOURNAL j E.A.S. (OEYLON). 



[Vol. IX. 



$10 per hundredweight in cargo lots. It is used in the manufac- 

 ture of pencils, stove polish, and foundry facings. Ceylon plum- 

 bago is mined at Travancore, Ceylon, and is shipped from Colombo 

 to all parts of the world. It occurs in immense veins of great 

 purity : cobbing and sizing are the only preliminary operations 

 it undergoes. It appears in the market graded according to 

 size, as large lump, small lump, chip, and dust. Its price varies 

 from $2 for dust to $10 per hundredweight for prime lump in 

 cargo lots. It is used for all the purposes of the trade, except 

 the manufacture of pencil leads. American graphite, from the 

 nature of its occurrence, appears in the market only in the dressed 

 condition. Its price ranges from $2 to $10 per hundredweight 

 wholesale, according to purity and fineness. Fineness exercises 

 considerable influence on the price of graphite on account of the 

 difficulty of pulverizing it. American graphite is used for all 

 purposes of the trade, and excels all kinds as a lubricant. It is 

 the same geologically, &c, as the Canadian. Before the develop- 

 ment of the American and Canadian mines the Ceylon mineral 

 was the standard." 



I cannot help the contradictory accounts as to the relative 

 fitness of German and Ceylon plumbago for pencils, but 

 must simply adhere to my belief that the finer Ceylon ore 

 is largely used for pencils. Mr. Walker evidently writes 

 under the impression that Travancore is that portion of 

 Ceylon in which the plumbago is found which is exported 

 from Colombo, the fact being, I believe, that not a pound 

 of Travancore graphite is exported. The latest Travancore 

 Administration Eeport, indeed, does not even mention 

 plumbago as a product of the country. "Cobbing" seems 

 to mean beating with a flat board, but has probably the 

 extended meaning of breaking with hammers, &c. The 

 preliminary operations are, except in the case of pure lumps, 

 much more complicated than is indicated in the extract, 

 involving hammering, cutting, picking, sifting, washing, 

 &c, one of the tools employed in the Colombo yards being 

 a combined hammer and axe. It will be seen that while 

 Ceylon and American graphite are valued equally at $2 to 

 $10 per cwt. (Rs. 4*33 to nearly Rs. 22) the German mineral 

 has a minimum so low as $1, a price which could scarcely 

 pay freight and charges. Comparative analyses of the 

 Ceylon and Canadian varieties of graphite are given, which. 



