Note 1 — Chapter I

: LASSEN, Indische Alterthumskunde, vol. i. p. 193.

2: At Cutchavelly, north of Trincomalie, there exists a bed of calcareous clay, in which shells and crustaceans are found in a semi-fossilised state; but they are all of recent species, principally Macrophthalmus and Scylla. The breccia at Jaffna contains recent shells, as does also the arenaceous strata on the western coast of Manaar and in the neighbourhood of Galle. The existence of the fossilised crustaceans in the north of Ceylon was known to the early Arabian navigators. Abou-zeyd describes them as, "Un animal de mer qui resemble à l'écrevisse; quand cet animal sort de la mer, il se convertit en pierre." See REINAUD, Voyages faits par les Arabes, 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.