Records of the Geological Survey of India. 
108 
[VOL. VII. 
polished and exhibited both in Madras and Europe; favorable reports have been published, 
and there the matter has been allowed to rest.* 
In the Palnad, according to Mr. King, there are some particularly well colored marbles. 
There are also breccia beds of various colors “ in the western scarps of the Jummulmudgoos 
and the bottom of the slates in the Chey-air field.” Dr. Balfour describes the marbles of the 
Kadapa District as being of various shades of green. 
At Coimbatore, according to Mr. H. Blanford, there are crystalline limestones ‘• suscep¬ 
tible of a high polish, and very transparent, which would afford a very beautiful material 
for internal decorations, the effect of which would be enhanced by the judicious selection 
of slabs of various tints. Pink and grey, occasionally approaching white, are the prevailing 
colors of the stone.” 
In Burma, for statuary purposes, marble is largely employed. The material for the 
well known sitting and recumbent figures of Gaudama is said to be obtained chiefly from 
the Tsygen Hills near the village of Mowe in the district of Madeya. 
References. 
Medlicott, J.—Nerbudda ... Mem. Geol 
Oldham, T.—Khasia Hills ... „ 
Blanford.—Coimbatore ... „ 
King, W.—Trichinopoli and Kadapa „ 
Keene.—Agra—Stone Industries of Agra. 
Powell, B. H,—Punjab—Punjab Products. 
Balfour.—Madras, &c., Art. Marble—Cyclopoedia 
V.— Gypsum. 
As a building stone gypsum has been very little used in India. To some small extent 
it is manufactured locally, where it occurs, into ornaments, and is occasionally employed for 
mixing with lime to produce a hard and shining surface on chunam work. The manufacture 
of plaster of Paris from calcined gypsum appears to be unpractised by and unknown to the 
natives. 
Gypsum in quantities of importance and deserving of notice is found only, so far as 
1 know, in the Salt Range in the Punjab, parts of the Lower Himalayas, Spiti, Kach, 
and Madras. 
Its manner of occurrence at these various localities varies much. 
In the Salt Range, according to Dr. Fleming,+ gypsum occurs scattered in irregular beds 
and huge mass throughout the marl in which rock-salt also occurs. It is “ for the most part 
of a light grey color, with a shade of blue and translucent on the edges. It has a saccharine 
appearance, but masses in which a coarse crystalline structure prevails are by no means 
uncommon. Red varieties also occur, and beds of a dark grey earthy gypsum are generally 
associated with the saccharine kind.” 
It is said to be very abundant at Pind Dadun Khan. It also occurs at Mari, Kalabagh, 
and Surdi, where it contains quartz-crystals of various colours, which are known as Mari 
diamonds, and are much used by the natives for necklaces, &c. The marl on Mount Kuringil 
is also said to contain abundance of gypsum. 
Dr. Fleming suggested the gypsum of Pind Dadun Khan being made use of by the 
Public Works Department for building purposes. 
The marl in which this gypsum occurs is considered to be of silurian age. 
. Surv., India, II, p. 135. 
„ I, p. 185. 
„ I, p. 247. 
„ IV, p. 370, & VIII, 282. 
* According to Mr. Balfour’s Cyclopoedia: "Specimens sent to the great exhibition in 1851 were favorably 
reported upon as indicative of a valuable material, adapted to sculptural and ornamental purposes, 
t Jour. As. Soc., Bengal, XXII, p. 250. 
