Page images
PDF
EPUB

VIII.-Proceedings of the Asiatic Society.

Wednesday Evening the 11th March, 1835.

The Rev. W. H. MILL, D. D. Vice-President, in the chair.

Captain T. M. TAYLOR, proposed at the last meeting, was duly elected a member of the Society.

The Chevalier General VENTURA and M. A. COURT, proposed as honorary members at the last meeting, were unanimously elected.

The Honorable GEORGE TURNOUR, of the Ceylon civil service, was proposed as an honorary member, by Dr. MILL, seconded by Mr. J. PRINSEP, and referred to the committee of papers.

The Secretary announced that two vacancies had been caused in the committee of papers by the departure of Captain TROYER and Dr. TYTLER, for Europe; upon which a ballot was held, and Mr. H. T. PRINSEP and Captain PEMBERTON, were elected by the majority of votes.

Read a letter from C. K. ROBISON, Esq. intimating, with reluctance, that he was compelled to withdraw from the Society.

Read a letter from Dr. J. T. PEARSON, stating that in consequence of his residing at such a distance from the museum of the Society, he could not any longer perform the duties of Curator, and therefore tendering his resignation of the situation, and proposing that a person be sent for in that capacity from England.

Resolved, that the thanks of the Society be presented to Dr. PEARSON, for his past services, and that the subject of his present recommendation be referred to the committee of papers.

Read a letter from Mr. C. TREBECK, on the subject of his brother's and Mr. MOORCROFT'S manuscripts. The Secretary also had received a letter from Mr. W. FRASER of Delhi, offering to place such papers as were still with him in the hands of the Society, on condition of their being published for the sole benefit of the author's family.

[ocr errors]

Referred to the committee of papers.

Read a letter from Monsieur E. BURNOUF, Secretary to the Asiatic Society of Paris, acknowledging his election as an honorary member, and noticing the receipt of the 17th volume of the Asiatic Researches and 1st volume of the Journal of the Asiatic Society.

Library.

Read a letter from Captain H. HARKNESS, Secretary to the Royal Asiatic Society, forwarding the 3rd part of the 3rd volume of the Society's Transactions, also the first part of the New Quarterly Journal.

Read a letter from H. T. PRINSEP, Esq. Secretary to the Government of India, General Department, forwarding on behalf of the Right Honorable the Governor of Bengal, a copy of the 1st volume of Colonel BEAUFOY's Nautical and Hydraulic experiments, with numerous Scientific miscellanies.

Read a letter from Baron SILVESTRE DE SACY, presenting his recent publications as follows:

A A

De L'ASIE, ou Considerations, Religieuses, Philosophiques, et Litteraires, sur L'ASIE, 4 vols.

Extrait Du Sefer Tahkemoni.

Notice sur La Vie et les Ouvrages De M. CHAMPOLLION LE JEUNE. Discours prononcé à la Sèance Generale de La Societé Asiatique du 29 Avril, 1833.

Alfiyya ou La quintessence de la Grammaire Arabe, ouvrage de DJEMA'L-edDI'N MOHAMMED.

The following books were presented on the part of the Royal College of Surgeons of London, with a letter from Sir ANTHONY CARLISLE. Catalogue of the Library of the College of Surgeons.

Descriptive and illustrated catalogue of the physiological series of comparative anatomy contained in the museum, vol. 1st.

Catalogue of the Hunterian collection in the museum, in 5 parts.

Memoir on the Pearly Nautilus, with illustrations of its external form and internal structure, drawn up by RICHARD OWEN, M. R. College of Surgeons. Alleged discovery of the use of the Spleen and Thyroid gland, by Sir A. CARLISLE. The following works were also presented.

Report of the third meeting of the British Association for the advancement of science-by the Association.

[ocr errors]

Madras Journal of Literature and Science, Nos. 5 and 6-by the Madras Literary Society.

The Indian Journal of Medical Science, Nos. 14 and 15-by the Editors. Journal Asiatique, No. 78, September, 1834-by the Asiatic Society of Paris. Ciceronis Opera Omnia, printed in the year 1596—by Dr. J. Tytler. A valuable Aldine edition of Herodotus, printed in 1513-by Ditto. The following works, published by the Oriental Translation Fund, were received from the London Committee.

Tohfut-ul-Majahideen, an Arabic history, translated by Lieut. M. J. Row

LANDSON.

An essay on the Architecture of the Hindus, with 48 plates, by Ra'm Raʼz, native judge, Bangalore.

Travels of Macarius, part 5, translated by C. F. BELFOUR.

Travels of Evliya Effendi, in Europe, Asia and Africa, in the 17th century, translated from the Turkish-by R. J. VON HAMMER.

Description of the Burmese Empire from the MS. of father SANGERMANO, translated by W. TANDY, D. D.

Alfiya, an Arabic Grammar, by the Baron SILVESTRE DE SACY.

Fifth general report of the proceedings of the Oriental Translation Fund, 1834. The following books were received from the booksellers.

Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopedia, Middle Ages, Vol. 4th.

British Admirals, Vol. 3rd.

Illustrations of Indian Zoology, Parts 15, 16, 17, and 18, (two in one.) Illustrations of the Botany, and Natural History of the Himalayan Mountains, &c. Part 4th. By F. J. ROYLE, Esq. F. L. S. and G. S., M. R. A. S.

The Secretary reported the completion of the Index of the first eighteen volumes of the Asiatic Researches, and submitted a Bill from the Military Orphan Press, for Rupees 1210, being the expence incurred in its publication, which was ordered to be discharged, and thanks were voted.

Museum and Physical.

The Secretary announced that he had been requested by Lieut.-Colonel BURNEY to beg the Society's acceptance of the collection of fossil bones from Ava, exhibited at the meeting of the 6th August, 1834.

The best thanks of the Society were voted for this splendid and costly present.

A note was read from Mr. J. H. STOCQUELER, presenting for the Museum a spear, knife, and mallet, used by the nations of King George's Sound. 44 These very primitive implements are made by cementing sharp splinters of flint upon the side or end of a stick with a kind of tough pitch. The mallet, formed of two rounded stones attached in the same manner, is used for indenting the gum tree, up which the aborigines climb in search of the opossum, and also for killing the animal:-the pointed end of the knife for skinning him.

Three specimens of the navicella tessellata (LAMARCK), found adhering to piles in the Húglí river, Fort William, were presented by W. H. BENSON, Esq.

Read, extracts of a letter from Lieut. WM. FOLEY, dated 6th January, forwarding some specimens of Sulphuret of Antimony, occurring in vast quantities in a hill near Moulmein.

Extracts of various letters from Captain CAUTLEY and Dr. FALCONER, describing the progress of their explorations in the Siwálik hills.

The rhinoceros, hitherto a desideratum in their fossil cabinet, had at length been recognized by seven veritable molar teeth. The Museum at Seharanpur is now so richly stored with subjects, that it will be better to await a full account of it from the meritorious founders of it themselves, than to publish the detached notices we have hitherto ventured to glean from their private correspondence: but we could not refrain from announcing to the world the rapid progress made at the onset, in this remote theatre of discovery.

Some vegetable stalactitic kankar and fossil shells of the Gawelgiri hills were presented with notes by Dr. MALCOLMSON of Madras.

Antiquities and Papers Communicated.

A letter from Dr. G. E. RANKIN, dated Riewara 7th February, 1835, was read, forwarding a facsimile of an inscription from the ruins of a Hindu temple on the hill of Harsh in Shekawati, about 40 miles north of Sambhur, and seven or eight south of Seekur.

A letter from Lieut. NEWBOLD, communicating a Memoir on the History and Government of Naning.

Also a sketch of the four Menang Cabowe States in the interior of the Malayan Peninsula, by the same author.

The following valuable papers and documents were submitted and presented by Lieut.-Colonel H. BURNEY, resident in Ava.

A chronological account of the kings of Siam, obtained from the rightful heir to the Siamese throne, now residing as a druggist at Ava.

Translation of an epitome of the kings of Prome, Pagan, and Ava, drawn up by order of the king of Ava for Colonel BURNEY.

Translation of the official registers of the population of the Burmese Empire made in 1783, and revised under the present king in 1826.

The whole population of Burma proper from these documents, exclusive of the "wild tribes," only amounts to 1,831,467 souls.

Translation with critical explanation of the proclamation made every month in the city of Ava, as noticed by CRAWFURD, enjoining the inhabitants to observe certain moral precepts.

Colonel BURNEY having kindly undertaken to look over these papers, and prepare them for the press, they were re-delivered into his charge for the present. A description of the ruins of an extensive ancient town called Pora in Assam, was communicated by Captain WESTMACOTT, Assistant to the Political Agent on the N. E. Frontier.

[This will be published in our next.]

The following particulars of some singular ancient monuments in the neighbourhood of Hyderabad, were communicated in a letter to the Secretary from Dr. S. G. MALCOLMSON of Madras.

"Your remarks on the liquid from the Manikyála tope induce me to think, that a notice of the singular tombs near Hyderabad may be interesting. There is an account of them in a volume published by the Madras Society some years ago from the pen of Captain YOUNG. They differ in appearance very much from those figured by Mr. BABINGTON, and also from some in Mysore, mentioned in Colonel WELCH's book; but are exceedingly like the smaller, and ruder Druids' circles, and in some no square coffin or "kiot” is found, their place being supplied by the small stones and soil, which contains much clay, and some iron and lime, and becomes naturally very hard when pressed together. In none did any mortar seem to be used. Captain YOUNG found bones and even skulls. I was not so fortunate, although very anxious for a skull, being in hopes of ascertaining that they had been monuments of the same people, whose remains are found in some parts of Russia. Some of the graves had been opened before, and I believe that in these skulls had been found. In those I opened, there were many of the earthen vessels of very different shapes, and the more perfect ones contained a peculiar soft almost unctuous looking earth, in thin layers of a white and dark-gray color. In some places there seemed to be a white powder like ashes interposed between the dusky layers."

The contents of two of the jars were sent up as first extracted; but they seemed to contain little or no animal matter:-the earth from its stratification in their horizontal laminæ had evidently been deposited by gradual infiltration during a long course of rainy seasons, until it had completely filled the vessels. Dr. M.'s sketches of the jars are engraved at the foot of Plate VII. "No. 1 was found inserted into one of the long jars, and probably answered as a cover. The mouths of it and of No. 5 had a more graceful curve, and in this respect had a distant resemblance to some ancient vases."

Adverting to Mr. HODGSON's opinion that Buddhism had preserved an identity of character in all times and places, Dr. MALCOLMSON writes :) "In May, 1828, I passed through a town called Bandock, 18 miles from Chanda, on the road to Nágpur, and finding many Hindu ruins well sculptured on the sandstone of the district, I spent the day in examining

them. To the greater number I could give names, but one insignificant head, much injured, struck me as having the composed sleep-like appearance of the Buddhist sculptures. This induced me to make some inquiries, and I soon heard that in a hill two miles off there was a cavern, and on reaching it I found an excavation consisting of three parts, the principal of which penetrated 20 paces into the rock, but was narrow in proportion to its length. In a small apartment at its extremity was a sitting Bauddha figure, six feet high. The passage was arched with several recesses on each side, and near the entrance, the two other portions of the temple extended 10 paces into the rock, like the arms of a cross, and were in every respect similar. A rude outline of Buddha could be traced on the rock, where it was smoothed away on each side of the mouth of the cavern. There was a figure of Durga inside the temple, and one at the door, on separate pieces of stone, and of modern appearance. The small head which first attracted my attention was found amongst the rubbish of a ruined temple, which some Jain Banians in the town were engaged in removing in search of their images, and amongst these I found several of the naked figures, (four or five feet high,) with curly hair, and differing amongst themselves, usually found in Jain temples, and also representations of Buddha in the sitting posture, with the hands laid over each other, the palms uppermost, the hair curly, the forehead wide, with little figures kneeling before him, and others fanning him ; amongst them was a figure of Durga. The Jains have also a modern temple there."

Adverting also to the same subject, Dr. R. TYTLER mentioned to the meeting, that he had remarked while in Scotland, the close resemblance of "the little steeple at Brechin" to a Buddhist monument. The same remark has frequently been made of the Round Towers of Ireland. He had written a note on the subject in the Freemason's Review, for October, 1834, which he presented.

"The little steeple of Brechin consists of a beautiful slender cylinder or hollow pillar, about 80 feet high, with 60 rows of smooth stones, cemented by mortar, and is surmounted with a cone of masonry of a subsequent period of architecture. On the western front are sculptured figures of an elephant, having the feet of a lion, and a horse: each 11 inches long and 8 broad. The combination of the elephant and lion is observable on the temples of Java, and in many statues of Buddha elsewhere."

རྩྭ་ཉན་རྟོསསྟུན་

ve A note from B. H. HODGSON, Esq. Resident at Nèpal, forwarded drawrings of the Láths or columns at Bakra in Tirhut, at Arahráj in Saran, and of the mound at Kesriah, in the former district; with exact fac-similes of the inscribed characters on the two pillars.

* Lieutenant A. CUNNINGHAM, Engineers, forwarded the facsimile of an inscription on a stone slab extracted by him from the Buddhist monument at Sarnáth near Benares.

Anote by the Secretary on the same subject, and on the inscribed pedestal of the Bauddha image, presented at the last meeting, was read. [See the foregoing pages of the present number.]

Upon the close of the regular business of the evening, Dr. R. TYTLER exhibited to the meeting several interesting experiments in Electro-mag

« PreviousContinue »