"Dec. '.2, 1901.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTTJRIST. 
403 
saocess of this step it is not a little remarkable that 
ia 190') the revenue should hive almost doubled, thus 
securing iu less than five years as large a measure 
of increase as hai3 been gained in the previous twenty 
years. Abor,t 500,000 tons of tiu, worth over i'40,0"0,00'0 
sterling, have been exported during the last liiteeu 
years. 
A MANUAL OF THE NORTH CENTRAL 
PROVINCE. 
We have to v/elconie the appearance of 
an excellent and handy manual of a 
province before which perhaps there lies 
the richest future in contrast with its recent 
past of any ia the island. We refer to the 
Manual of the North-Central Province, 
Ceyloa " compiled by the Hon. R W levers, 
M.A., present Acting Colonial Secretary, 
but who was fornierlv for nearly seven years 
—from May 7th 1886 to April 14th 1893, 
Acting Government Agent of this province. 
The book issues from the Government Press. 
The preface explains the raison d'etre of the 
work and we are glad to quote it in full : — 
When Agent of the North-Central Province I 
was (lirecteil by Governnienfc to prepare a Manual 
of the Province, and the materials which I theu 
put tocjether are now printed. I regret the in- 
completeness of the work, and hope that my 
successors may be able to bring it up to date ia 
a later and more useful form I have to ac- 
knowledge obligations to many who have assisted 
me with information, and especially to Mr H C P 
Bell, Arcliseologieal Commissiivner, who has helpeil 
me in various way. R. W. lEVERS. 
JatiVia, 1899. 
We are not prepared to admit that it con- 
tains any serious omissions. The maps alone 
— North-Central Province, Nuwarakalaviya, 
and Tamankaduwa— are most valuable, 
while the titles of the chapters — Physical 
Features and Topography, Ancient History, 
Modern Plistory, Political History, Popula- 
tion, Inhabitants, Cliiuate, Health, Religion, 
Oaths, and Ordeals, Revenue and its Collec- 
tion, Irrigation, Agriculture, Food Supply 
Roads, Archaeology, Trees, Shrubs, &c., 
Beasts and Birds, List of Sinhalese words 
used in a peculiar sense or u>ed only in the 
North-Central Province, and Forests,— quite 
belie — superficially, at least — any apology 
for incompleteness. We notice Mr. levers 
quotes from White's Selborne : " Every 
Khigdoni, every Province, should have its 
own Mf)nographer " and— following in the 
footsteps of Sir A. C. Lawrie with the Central 
Province— Mr. levers could hardly have been 
surpassed as the chronicler of things as they 
have been, and are, and might be, ia the 
Noi'th-Central. On a cursory glance we 
have found this manual of 27G pages in every 
way admirable and its translation into Sin- 
halese, and even Tamil, should prove a 
profitaVde as well as most useful task for an 
ofilcial. 
■ ♦ 
COOPER, COOPER, & JOHNSON-. 
THE DAWN OF RriCONSTEUCTION. 
After months of delay owing to the fact that 
a promised £10,000 was not lortiicoming there 
seems at last some chance of the reconstruction of 
this business taking shape. It seems that there 
are really to be two concerns, the retail shops being 
separated from the plantation properties. Existing 
shareiiolders will have an opportunity of taking 
up the sl'.ares iu the shops business, and it is satis- 
factory to note that all debenture or other first 
charges are to be got rid of. Of course the re- 
organisation proposals will involve a wholesale 
reduction in the capital, and shareholders will be 
asked to contribute Is 6d per share, but this assess- 
nient will be reissued in the shape of second de- 
bentures. We await the full details with some 
curiosity, and shall be glad to know that some- 
thing has been saved from the wreck. — Investors' 
Review, Nov. 2. 
,5, 
THE GEOLOGY OF SOUTH-CENTRAL 
CEYLON. 
We direct attention to an interesting 
paper by Mr John Parkinson, read before 
the Geological Society, on the Geology 
of South-Central Ceylon. Mr Parkinson 
visited Nuwara Eliya, Hakgala, and other 
popular places during a visit, with Mrs 
Parkinson, last year — on their way round 
the world. The "notes" are published below. 
NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF 
SOUTH-CENTRAL CEYLON. 
BY JOHN PARKINSON, ESQ., F.G.S. 
I.— INTRODUCTION. 
The follov.'ing notes are the result of a tour of a 
few weeks duration in the south-central parts of 
Ceylon. The time spent in the island was brief, 
aijd the work was done entirely upon inland sec- 
tions; but in many places the exposures of rock are 
good, especially along the lines of railway. Petro- 
logical descriptions of Ceylon rocks are notwanting, 
but details of their field-relations are few, and it is 
hoped that the following paper may direct attention 
to the interesting problems which are likely to 
arise from such an investigation. 
If.— THE GNEISSOID GRANULITES. 
(a) On the Ckylon Government Railway 
FROM RAMBUKKANA EASTWARD IN THE DIREC- 
TION OF ALAGALA. — Leaving the station at Ram- 
bukkana, and proceeding along the metals, we 
walkover country which is fiat, or nearly so, for 
about half mile, when we come to a small cutting. 
Here is exposed a rather coarse* granitic 
rock with pinkish brown felspars up to '3 
across. In about six yards this gives place to one 
more linely grained, rather saccharoidal in appear- 
ance, and speckled with patches of mica. 
On the opposite side of the railway line the rock 
is banded, but not in the clear even way which, 
for instance, characterises the gneiss on the south 
.'ideof the St. Gotthard Pass. The darker, parts 
are rich in hornblende and brovi-n mica, and contain 
little or no quartz. These bands often have a 
wavy habit, as though torn, and sometimes small 
black patches, like fragments of bands, appear 
isolated in the more granitic rock. Rather 
frequently we find large felspars rounded in out- 
line, and an inch or more in diameter. In 25 to 
30 yards a very hornblendic rock crops out, 
followed in turn by one conspicuously banded. We 
find next the hornblendic rock veined by the 
* Granite and granitic are used merely as field 
terms ; as will be seen, the structure of the rocks here 
described is not that of a graaite. 
