PLUMBAGO (from Lat. plumbum, lead), a name frequently applied to graphite, “Miniran” in sinhala Languge. When Chemistry was in its early days and the graphite was thought to be a form of lead. Because of this, it was called “plumbago” (Latin for “acts like lead”). The black core of pencils is still called “lead”, even though it does not have any lead in it. In allusion to its remote resemblance to lead, whence it is popularly called “black-lead.”
