PART 1.] 
MedlicoH: On the habitat of elastic sandstone. 
31 
series, all being nearly vertical. The elastic sandstone is only found in patches in this band 
of millstone quartzite. There is no regular bed or seam of it; the stone-cutters, of whom 
there is quite a colony at Kaliana, come upon it suddenly when cutting out slabs of the 
ordinary stone. Often the rock in immediate contact with a nest of elastic sandstone is 
highly indurated and quartzo.se. The stone-cutters declare that they sometimes find it in 
the line of the bedding, and sometimes along the joints. Their idea of the matter is, that 
it is a mere local peculiarity of the sandstone rock caused by the percolation of rain water 
and miti (earth) from the surface. If the miti had been omitted, the native explanation 
is probably the correct one. The only superficially noticeable difference between the two is 
the greater porosity aud friability of the elastic stone, owing probably to the removal of 
some thinly permeating cement to which tho strong rigidity of the quartzite is due. Among 
the rocks sent by Colonel McMahon there is a variety of this pseudo-metamorphic rock in 
which the earthy ingredient prevails largely over the quartzose. Its aspect is somewhat 
like that of a half-baked fire-brick; and it would seem as if it had only needed a modicum 
of some alkaloid base to have converted the whole into a form of gneissic rock. 
There are two myths connected with these elastic sandstones which it is desirable to 
discredit. One is its supposed connection with diamonds. In India at least there is no 
shadow of such connection. All the widely scattered diamond localities seem somehow 
connected with members of tho Vindhyau series of rocks. And, on the other hand, there 
is no tradition of diamonds at Kaliana. The idea comes from Brazil, whence also the fancy 
name Itacolumyte; it is probable that the connection is quite imaginary. 
The other notion is, that the elasticity is attributable to talc, or mica. However this 
may be true of the Brazilian variety, there is no pretence for it in the Kaliana rock; the 
few small plates of mica in it are quite isolated, the rock not having any schistose (foliated) 
structure. The only tenable account of this property of elasticity is that given by Pro¬ 
fessor Haughton, whose name is a full guarantee of correctness:—“ A most remarkable cir¬ 
cumstance sometimes occurs in the formation of these sandstones, which are not composed 
of pure particles of quartz, but of clay mixed with them, namely, that the particles of 
quartz mix ed in this clay or paste are permitted a certain amount of motion. If you take 
an ordinary sandstone, it is like any other rock ; and with a lens you can see the separate 
particles, and that each separate particle is touched on every side by a number of other 
rounded particles that hold it in its place, and it in turn contributes to hold them in their 
places, so as to form of the whole a rigid rock like any other. But, occasionally, in some 
rare cases—which, as far as I have any knowledge of them, are confined to Brazil, South 
Carolina, and Delhi —yon have a rock composed of particles of sandstone, which are not 
in contact with each other, but lie in a paste of felspathic clay, which paste permits a cer¬ 
tain amount of motion between the particles of the mass.” (Haughton’s Manual of Geology, 
Lecture II, p. 51). It would seem that in the Kaliana rock, doubly metamorphosing con¬ 
ditions were concerned in its production—a solidifying process to give tenuity to the earthy 
paste, and a partial dissolution to remove the rigidity of its first solidification. 
Elasticity, in its vernacular sense, is a misleading name for the character of this stone. 
It bends without the least sensible increase of resistance up to a certain limit, where it comes 
to hard stop. Mr. F. R. Mallet found that a slab of the Kaliana stone 24'5" X G'7" X 1*8", 
resting on supports 24" apart, gave a deflection of 0*7" ; and that after saturation with 
water the deflection was reduced to Olio. 
On the west side of the Kaliana hill and not far from the top there is an old mine 
cut into the ironstone. It is said that three generations ago it was worked for copper. In 
a piece of schist sent from this spot, there is not the slightest trace of copper staining; but 
the mica has a very decided copper colour, which may have been the beginning and end of 
the mining experiment.—H. B, M. 
