Feuruary I, 1892.1 THE TROPtOAL AQRIOULTUmST 
SPries of letters to the Ceylon Chserver. Repo'vcd . — 
" That the Director of the Boyal Imperial Austrian 
Oriental Mnsenm, Vienna, be asked to inform the 
Committee what samples of Oeylon teaa he would 
wish to receive for Exhibition piving details as to 
the most desirable way of pdckinp tlie samples with 
any further information that may occur to him.' 
Resolved: — "That a copy of these resolutions be for- 
warded to Mr. FergUHon." 
Oeylon Tear in Pauis. — Bead letters from the 
Seorotary, the Onylon Association in London in regard 
to the proposed joint operationa in Paris with the 
Palais Indien Tea House, Limited. 
ANALYSES OP Samples op Oeylon Teas. — Read letter 
from Mr. H. AtkinBon. Resolved : — " That Mr. Atkin- 
son be thanked for his letter, and informed that the 
consideration of the question he refers to will net be 
lost sight of." 
Oeylon Tea at the Eimbedley Exhibition 1892. 
— Read letter from the Seorot«ry, the Ceylon Cham- 
ber of Commerce, forwarding copy of a lettPr received 
from Mr, LitcbfitH Green, Secretary of the Kimberley 
Exhibition of 1892, and asking if the Association had 
received a similar communication and also enquiring 
it the Association intends taking anv steps in the 
matter. Resolved: — "That the Standing Committee 
of the Tea Fund do not recommend any part being 
taken by the Planterb' Association at the Kimberley 
Exhibition of 1892." 
Read letter fiora Messrs. J. M. Robertson & Oo. 
Resolved : — " That the letter be acknowledged and 
that they be informed that the point raised in their 
letter will receive early consideration from the Staaid- 
irp Committee of the Tea Fi;n3." 
The Standing Committee of the Tea Fund then 
adjourned. 
A. Philip, 
Secretary to the PlaDters' Association of Celyon. 
FOSSILS FROM DOLOMITE AT 
PUTTALAM. 
Mr. H. P. C. Armitftge writea from Puttalam : — 
'•I vfrote you some time ago about the find of 
dolomite north of Puttalam. I am now sending ycu, 
by a friend, about ten fossils found in it. They are 
mostly shells, and that they are fossils is indispu- 
table. As there has been a great deal of controversy 
as regards the finding of fossils in Ceylon, I have 
been at some trouble to solve the doubt, and am 
clad to be able to send yon what I believe to bo 
tho first fopsih found in Oeylon. I shall be glad if 
you will after inspection send them on to the Museum 
aa a loan from me. 
" This dolomite rnns all along the coast and is 
found cropping up some miles inland. 1 hesr that 
there is a formation of coral up north of Karait- 
tivn also. 
" At Kalpitiya and down most of the Akk.-irii 
Pattu, a layer of sand and lime, aboot one or two 
f< et thick, exists. It has fc rmed a hard conglo- 
merate or breccia, being all cemented together, 
and is used for the Akkarai Pattu road. After going 
below this one again comes on the reguUr sandy soil. 
Cocounts would (lo much better in many parts if 
this layer of rock was nou-existent, I expect, as 
it ia only 2 to G feet from the surface. I attribute 
to this rock, however, the good water generally obteiued 
in those parte, as nil the wntor is filtered tbrousb 
this rook, which is porous and soft on first cutting 
it, but it becomes hard after exposure to the sun. 
•' I hope to write you soon a lo:ig paper on tho 
gcology'iot this district, which is the most interesting 
I have yc-t seen in Oeylon." 
This find of true fosHiU in one of our primitive 
rooks is vpry interosting, and shall be glad t.o 
receive tho detailed information promised, Tonnont 
wrote poBsitivoly, " the rooks of Ooylon are en- 
tirely destitute of organic remainB." Ho added a 
note BS /oliows ; — 
At Outohavolly, north of Trinoomalie, there exists a 
bod of culoareous oliiy, in which shells und cruataoeans 
are found in a semi-fosailised state ; but they are all 
of recent species, principally Macropkthahais and 
Seylla. The breccia at Jaffna contains recent shells, 
as does also the arenaceous strata on the western 
coast ot Manaar and in the neighbourhood of Galle. 
The esistenoe of the fossilised orustacoans in the 
north of Ceylon was known to the early Arabian 
navigators. Abou-zeyd describes them as, " Un 
animal de mer qui ressemble k reorevisse ; quand cet 
animal sort de la mer, il se convertit en pierre." See 
Reinaud, Voyages faits par les Arabea, vol. i. p. 21. 
The Arabs then, and the Chinese at the present day, 
use these petrifactions when powdered as a specific for 
diseases of the eye. 
Mr, George Armitage, however, believes that be 
has actually found fossils in our gneiss rook. If 
that belief is well founded, our oorrespondent can- 
not claim priority, although the largeness of hia 
find makes the discovery important. Mr. H. P. 
0. Armitage, it will be seen, is confident that the 
limestone is really dolomite and tho organio remains 
real fossils. 
The iNOBEASE in the use of cocoa in the United 
StatPE during the past few years has been re- 
niarbable. Daring the year ending June 30, 1891, 
the imports of eocoa crude and leaves and' shells' 
thereof, were 21,539, 8d0 pounds, of which 1,9,19,308 
were reexported, leaving net imports of 19 6001532 
pounds. In 1880 the entries for immediate con- 
sumption and warehouse withdrawals for oonsump. 
tion were 7,411,046 pounds.and in 1S76, only 4,655,793 
pounds or less than 24 per cent, of the quantity 
at present used. This is strong testimony in 
favour of the popularity of cocoa. The figures 
given do not include prepared cocoa or chocolate, 
of which 1,615,401 pounds were imported in 1890 
paying a duty of two cents per pound.— yl7?i. Grocer. 
Perak Tea.— The Singapore Free Press of I8th 
December says :— Disraeli was once recommended 
to try Australian Wines for the gout. It was in 
the early days of the corn-stalk vintages, so that 
DO reflection is oast on tho productions of the 
present day. He wrote that he had tried it— and 
preferred the gout. That is exactly how we did 
not feel after trying Perak Tea. The first morning 
the " boy " made it dark brown and bitter • we 
learned incidentally that he had been a couple of 
hours too previous in his forecast of the time the 
matutinal tea would be wanted. Tho next morn- 
ing we had less tea put in, and tried it five 
minutes after brewing. The favour was splendid 
in our opinion better than that of Indian or 
Opylon tea, People who want to try Perak tea fairly 
should see that it is properly made ; then if they 
don't admit that it is good we shall feel inclined 
to say they like " black cap " best. 
Jute Mills in French Teeeitoey.— Messrs Gil- 
landers, Arbutbnot & Co., of Calcutta, have applied 
for and obtained sanction from the Polidioherry 
Administration for erecting and working, by steam 
power, a spinning and weaving mill, on a block of 
land belonging to them situated at Gonalpara in 
the Obandernagore colony. The firm intends' to 
manufacture jute into cloths and gunny ba^a for 
export and for local use : and is sanguine of°being 
able to compete suoceasfully with similar factories 
in Bengal. Messrs. Gillandcrs, Arbutbnot & Co are 
required, hy the French Colonial authorities, to execute 
a bond assuring tho salubrity of their establishment 
and their willingness to conform to the rules and 
rejiulationa of "public ways," as ordained for the 
colony. Thitj 13 tho third jute mill, for which 
sanction has been asked, to be erected at Chandor- 
nagoro ; land the future prospects for tho onoo gay 
littlo colony are onoouraging.— Eiujincer. 
