NO. 48. — 1897.] GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 



41 



deep into the subject. Gygax's labours (1848-49) were 

 mainly directed to the examination and report of the mineral 

 resources of the Sabaragamuwa District.* Pridham (1849) 

 adopted the convenient process of " boiling down " the 

 results obtained by previous writers, and has with character- 

 istic significance seldom condescended to acknowledge the 

 source of his information.! Kelaart's excellent " Notes on 

 the Geology of Ceylon " (1850) have special reference to 

 the laterite formation of the Island and the fluatile deposit 

 of Nuwara Eliya.f Baker's remarks (1855) apply almost 

 exclusively to the Nuwara El iy a District.§ Tennent] (1860) 

 and a host of other writers have either bodily adopted the 

 theories, or more frequently based their conclusions on the 

 investigations of the authors who preceded them, particularly 

 with regard to the alleged discovery " of anthracite, in 

 close proximity to rich veins of plumbago," which did 

 not require much labour on the part of the late Mr. A. M. 

 Ferguson to prove and establish beyond the shade of a 

 shadow of doubt to be "as mythical as Sinbad the Sailor 

 and his gems."! The late John F. Campbell of Islay 

 (1876), who was eminently qualified to prosecute the subject 

 from a scientific point of view, was unfortunately prevented 

 by the shortness of his stay in Ceylon from devoting the 

 necessary time and attention to it which the importance of 

 the inquiry demanded.** However, his views, such as they 



* Journal, C.B.R.A.S., No. 3, 1847-48, pp. 1-5. 



f " An Historical, Political, and Statistical Account of Ceylon and its 

 Dependencies," by Charles Pridham. 2 vols. London, 1849. 

 + Journal, C.B.R.A.S., 1849-50, p. 210 et seq. 

 § " Eight Years in Ceylon," by Sir Samuel Baker. 



|| " Ceylon : an Account of the Island, Physical, Historical, and Topo- 

 graphical, &c." 2 vols. 1860. 



•J " Plumbago : with special reference to the position occupied by the 

 Mineral in the Commerce of Ceylon ; and the question discussed of the 

 alleged existence in the Island of the allied substance Anthracite," by 

 A. M. Ferguson, Esq., CM. Gr.— Journal, C.B.R. A.S., vol. IX., part. IL, No. 

 31, 1885. 



** " My Circular Notes," by J. F. Campbell, with Appendix on " The 

 Period of Polar Glaciation." 2 vols. London, 1876. 



