Chap. XXI.] 
VERNACULAR NAMES. 
413 
kolsd-kd.'patthar as applied to manganese-ore is a misnomer. Most 
of the Punjab terms are evidently variants of one word, and together 
with missi siydh are the names under which the mineral is sold 
in the Lahore bazar ; the ore so sold being the peroxide. Misat 
is the Hindustani word for a certain powder used for colouring the teeth ; 
and the addition of the adjective siydh in the case of peroxide of 
manganese refers of course to the black colour of this substance, in 
contradistinction to the ordinary greyish brown of missL The use of 
manganese peroxide for the eyes is indicated by the application to it of 
the term surma. The true surma, however, is antimony sulphide, 
and the merchants in the Vizagapatam district who applied this term 
to manganese-ore said that the latter was an inferior kind. Another 
example of the use of the word surma in this sense is seen in the Central 
Provinces Gazetteer ^, where C. Grant refers to the occurrence of 
large quantities of ' surma (sulphide of antimony)' a few mi'es to the 
east of Biirha (the old name for Btalaghat town). As no antimony 
sulphide has yet been found in the Balaghat district, it is to be assumed 
that this passage refers to the large deposit of manganese-ore situated 
some 3 miles north-east of Balaghat town. The term sudda 2 is perhaps 
the Telugu form of ' surma ' ; whilst iddali kallu, meaning charcoal, 
stone, may be regarded as the Kanarese form of ' kolsa-ka-patthar 
and like it a misnomer. In the Sandur Hills I found that some of the 
inhabitants distinguished between kabbane kallu (iron stone) and ukkina 
kallu (steel stone), applying the latter to manganese-ore. The use 
of the term waral by the Dhavads of Mahabaleshwar has already 
been mentioned. 
From the foregoing, especially the number of vernacular names, 
it will be seen that ores of manganese must long have been known to, 
and worked by, the natives of India. But for whatever purpose worked, 
the total amount of ore extracted at any one place can never have 
been very large. 
Before considering the history of the discovery and working of this 
History of the fluctua- mineral in India by Europeans, it will be 
tions ia the price of man- convenient to notice briefly the fluctua- 
ganese-ore, tions in the price of manganese-ore since 
1 1870, page 18. 
2 Mr. R. Morris, Collector of the Kistna district, tells me that sudda is more 
correctly written suddha, and is a Telugu word taken from the Sanskrit ; it is used to 
designate I white pipe clay used for painting walls and also for caste marks. It is 
a distinct word to surma and hence its use to describe manganese-ore must be a mistake. 
