50 
453. China clay, from the Rajmahal Hills, Bengal. 
454. Sandy clay, from Jeypoor, Assam. 
455. Washed clay, from Jeypoor, Assam. 
456. Washed clay, from decomposing felspathie 
rock, from the bed of the Numbar River, 
Upper Assam. 
457. W T ashed clay, after a second washing. 
458. Kaolin, from Lovedale, Nilghiri Hills. (Three 
specimens.) 
459. Clays of various colours and degrees of fine- 
ness, from the neighbourhood of Mangalore, 
much used in the manufacture of tiles and 
common pottery by the industrial establish- 
merit of the German mission at Mangalore. 
460. Kaolin, from same neighhourhood, used for 
pottery. G. S. I. Collection. Sent by H. S. 
Thomas, Esq., Collector of the South Canara 
district, Madras Presidency. 
461. A box with 24 assorted specimens of minerals 
from Southern India. Sent by Dr. Bidie, 
Superintendent of Government Central Mu 
seum, Madras, to be given, after the Exhi 
bition, to some museum in Vienna. 
462. A box containing specimens of the building 
stones used in the Chanda district, Central 
Provinces. Sent by the Nagpore Committee. 
CONTRIBUTIONS EROM OTHER SOURCES. 
SECTION A.—MINERAL FUELS. 
The Government borings for coal in Central India 
have proved successful. At a point 300 miles to the 
eastof Bombay and 200 to the south of Nerbudda 
there is a well-ascertained coal-field. One of the 
shafts sunk has proved 52 feet of coal at a depth of 
149 feet, and another 32 feet of coal at a depth of 
180 feet. Every one of upwards of 20 bore-holes 
has also revealed coal. The area of the coal-field is 
as much as 60 miles in length by from 15 to 20 in 
breadth, and the quality of the coal is excellent for 
locomotive purposes. 
Central Provinces Committee. 
Coal from the Chanda, Belaspore, Chindwarra, and 
Husahu River districts. 
The Local Committee remarks :—“ It is believed 
“ that the Chanda coal will be delivered at the Wardha 
“ Station of G. I. P. Railway for 18s. per ton. The 
“ coals of the Belaspore and Chindwarra districts will 
“ never find their way to market tili the country is 
“ opened up.” 
SECTION B.—MINERAL ORES AND METALS. 
The most important and plentiful of Indian mine 
ral ores is that of iron. The reputation which attaches 
to the celebrated “ Wootz ” will be sufficient excuse 
for extracting from theAsiatic Journal some particu- 
lars of its manufacture :— 
“ The ore from which the wootz steel is made is 
the magnetic oxide of iron, combined with quartz ; 
the ore varies much in its appearance, aecording as 
the grains of quartz and oxide of iron are large or 
small, but the proportion in which the component 
parts unite is nearly uniformly 48 of quartz and 52 of 
oxide of iron, in 100 parts by weight. 
“ It is found in many parts of the south of India, 
but the district of Salem is the principal seat of the 
Steel manufacture. The ore occurs generally in the 
form of low hills, and the quantity of it which is ex- 
posed above the surface of the surrounding country 
is so considerable that it is not probable that it 
will ever become necessary to have recourse to Under 
ground operations, supposing the smelting of iron 
ore from this district to be carried on to any extent 
that can be contemplated. 
“ It is prepared for being smelted by stamping 
and separating the quartz from it, either by washing 
it in a current of water, or by winnowing it in the 
manner in which rice is separated from the husk; in 
inost of the deposits of ore, parts are found in which 
the quartz is in a state of disintegration, and these, 
from the greater facility with which they are broken, 
are always selected by the natives for their furnaees. 
“ The furnace, or bloomery, in which the ore is 
smelted, is from three to five feet high from the 
surface of the ground, and the ground is hollowed 
out beneath it to the depth of from eight inches to a 
foot; it is somewhat pear-shaped, being about two 
feet in diameter at the ground, tapering to about one 
foot diameter at the top ; it is built entirely of clay, 
two men can finish one in a few hours, and it is 
ready for use next day. The blast is supplied by 
two "bellows, each made of a single goat’s skin, with 
a bamboo nozzle; the two nozzles meet in a clay 
pipe, which passes about half way through the fur 
nace at the level of the ground, and by working the 
bellows alternately a tolerably uniform blast is kept 
up ; a semicircular opening, about a foot high and a 
foot in diameter at the bottom, is left in the furnace, 
and before each smelting it is huilt up with clay. 
The furnace is then filled up with charcoal, and a 
lighted coal being introduced before the bellows, the 
fuel in the interior is soon kindled ; as soon as this 
is accomplished, a small portion of the ore previously 
moistened with water, to prevent it from running 
through the charcoal, but without any description of 
flux, is laid on the top of the fuel, and charcoal is 
thrown over it to fill up the furnace ; in this manner 
ore and fuel are added, and the bellows plied for 
four hours or thereabouts, when the process is 
stopped ; and the temporary wall in front of the fur 
nace having been broken down, the bloom is removed 
by a pair of tongs from the bottom of the furnace; 
it is then beaten with a wooden mailet to separate as 
much of the vitrified oxide of iron as possible, and 
while still red hot, it is cut through the middle with 
a hatchet, in Order to show the quality of the interior