78 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON), [VOL. XV. 



Epsom Salt ? — At Oppu-kulam, fifteen miles north-west of 

 Puttalam, the natives affirm that a very bitter kind of salt 

 (Epsom ?) is to be procured, but the statement has not been 

 verified.* 



Medicinal Springs. — No medicinal or thermal springs are 



known in the Province. Davy writes : — 



In the Seven Korales the water of Yapahove ( Yapahuwa) is said 

 to effect cures in certain diseases ; but a specimen of this water, for 

 which I was indebted to the Rev. G. Bissett, did not contain anything 

 in its composition to confirm such a character, f ' 



4. Mr. J. Ferguson took the Chair. 



5. Mr. Ferguson remarked on the great industry and research 

 which Mr. Modder's Paper showed, and on the interest with which all 

 the many scattered essays, monographs, and compilations on the local 

 Geology and Mineralogy are sure to be regarded by the officer who 

 may take charge of the coming systematic Geological Survey of 

 Ceylon. As regards plumbago mines, it is very interesting to know 

 that the Sinhalese, with their simple appliances, had sunk pits so deep 

 as 1,500 ft. He, the speaker, had been down a Ballaarat gold mine 

 thirty years ago, between 3,000 and 4,000 ft. deep; but these 

 miners had the advantage of all engineering appliances. As regards 

 laterite, it was a fact that some members of the Indian Geological 

 Survey had recognized a laterite as old as the volcanic period, and as 

 a formation distinct from gneiss, the most prevalent rock in India and 

 Ceylon. Their Ceylon laterite, or cabook, however, is generally 

 regarded as in a constant course of decay from the older rock ; but 

 curiously enough, a Colombo merchant (Mr. C. F. Alexander) twenty 

 years ago read a Paper before the Geological Society of Edinburgh 

 to demonstrate that Ceylon laterite was volcanic in its origin. Mr. 

 Modder's account of the formation around Chilaw and Madampe 

 would partly account for the richness of the soil well-known as one of 

 the finest cocoanut-growing districts in the Island. As regards the 

 reference to gold and other valuable metals, the expectation shared by 

 Sir Samuel Baker, among others, was that a proper examination of the 

 rocks in our higher divisions would lead to the discovery of gold- 

 yielding quartz, as well as possibly to the matrix of some of our 

 precious gems. But since Sir Samuel's last visit to the Island, when he 

 had had the honour of a long conversation with him on the subject, 

 they had had the railway carried right across their mountain system 

 through many deep cuttings, and a large number of rock tunnels, but 



* Journal, C.B.R.A.S., No. 6, 1853. 

 f Davy's" Ceylon," p. 48. 



