NO. 48. — 1897.] GEOLOGY AND MINER A LOGY. 



71 



porcupine," if, when he brings up to the surface a ton of 

 plumbago, he could realize the manifold uses towards which he 

 unwittingly contributes by the fruits of his perilous labour 

 in the dark depths of the earth. In the exhaustive list of uses 

 already quoted, " kahi-miniran " forms the chief constituent, 

 and though coming nearer home, its identity may be 

 concealed under the thin guise of such sentimental names as 

 "Servant's Friend," "Prize Medal Lustre," or "Halse's Roman 

 Lustre," without it "the most elaborate kitchen range would 

 soon become unsightly, the trim parlour grate blush with 

 rust, and the cottager's ' wee bit ingle ' would leave off 

 6 blinkin bonnily.' " * 



For these reasons well may we " lay the flattering unction to 

 our soul " that the Kurunegala District — 



forms the main source of supply of an article so useful in the in- 

 dustries and elegancies of life, the appliances of peace and war, and 

 the pursuits of the artist and literary man, not only to countries in the 

 Eastern Hemisphere, but to the regions of the Far Western World. f 



Minerals associated with Plumbago. — An interesting 

 report on specimens of plumbago, quartz, and iron pyrites 

 from a mine at Ragedara was made by Mr. A. Murray 

 of the Public Works Department, and will be found as an 

 Appendix to Mr. Ferguson's "Monograph on Plumbago." 



Of the minerals dug out of plumbago mines, there are a 

 number which doubtless have some value, but with which 

 the natives have no acquaintance, and consequently they are 

 sometimes thrown away. Amongst these minerals may be 

 enumerated pyrrhotite,% from which the nickel of commerce 



* American paper. 



f Ferguson's "Plumbago," &c, p. 237. 



% Mr. C. E. Ferdinands, of Kurunegala, who has a share in the Huri- 

 golla and other mines, sent a specimen of this mineral to his London agents, 

 who reported that iron pyrites were used to make sulphuric acid, but at that 

 time, nine years ago, they had no commercial value. The specific gravity 

 of this ore is almost the same as that of gold. It does not dissolve in 

 nitro-hydrochloric acid. It was put to the test. 



