No. 31.— 1885.] 



PLUMBAGO. 



257 



" Specimen No. 1. — A garnetiferous nodule of quartz, 

 apparently found imbedded in plumbago. I have broken the 

 specimen in two to show this clearly. 



" Specimen No. 2.— rBrown mica, which is mainly composed of 

 silica, potash, and magnesia. 



" Specimen No. 3. — One of the best and purest forms of plum- 

 bago I have seen. 



" Specimen No. 4. — Mica schist (quartz and mica), closely 

 associated with plumbago, iron pyrites, &c. The piece I have 

 broken off exhibits two shades of yellow, due doubtless to pre- 

 sence of sulphur in varying proportions. 



" Specimen No. 5.— A fine specimen of a highly garnetiferous 

 vein of quartz passing through plumbago. 



" Specimen No. 6. — Iron pyrites, plumbago, and quartz, with 

 a thin shell of ironstone — the first of the kind I have seen. 



" Specimen No. 7.— -A band of steatite or soupstone traversing 

 plumbago. The crystallized rock in the smaller specimen is quartz. 



" Specimen No. 8.— Of the three varieties, the light dull-look- 

 ing stone seems to me an impure amorphous form of plumbago, 

 impregnated with iron and mixed with felspar and silica. 



" The last two specimens are brown mica schist associated with 

 plumbago andiron pyrites." 



Appendix No. ,1Z* 



Local Use of Plumbago. 

 As this paper was undergoing final revision, the following inter- 

 esting communi cation reached me from Mr. W. P. Kanesinghe, 

 who, in consequence of inquiries made at my request, has ascer- 

 tained that native potters do use plumbago as a glaze. He gives 

 also information as to the local manufacture of crucibles, and a 

 curious tradition as to the last King of Kandy being a dealer in 

 plumbago :— 



" I just got from a man the mode of glazing pots in this 

 country. 



" The pots are made and kept in the shade to dry, and when 

 half dry they are trimmed and smoothed with a stick, and are 

 again smoothed with a chank. Then plumbago is pulverized and 

 rubbed over the pots, and again smoothed with the chank and 

 dried in the shade. If the plumbago does not stick to the pot, 

 a little lime-juice is sprinkled over the pot, and the plumbago is 



