Gupta himself, and even Buddha, belonged to the same race, together with other dynasties including that of Narak and Bhagadatta, who ruled at distant Pragjyotisha, the modern Gauhati, in Assam. These far-reaching conclusions have been contested by many in this country, where they are unpalatable to patriotic Indians. European experts are taking time to examine the data and review the position, and no doubt we shall soon begin to hear what their views are. It is not for me to venture an opinion on the merits of this controversy. I may point out, however, that even if all the above-mentioned Asurs were Persians, it does not follow that other persons so designated belonged to the same race. Nomenclatnre is always a very uncertain guide. For instance, the word" Hiudu ", which as we all know was originally applied by the early Greek invaders to the people living on the east bank of the Indus, has now come to connote millions of people whose homes are far removed from that river, and who have never had the slightest connection with that part of the country. The word "Kirat" again is used in Sanskrit literature to denote any hill tribe, and there is no necessary affinity between the various tribes so designated. So with the word "Asur". Even if it was originally the designation of people from Persia, it is, I venture to think, probable that it afterwards came to be applied to other non-Hindu dynasties irrespective of their race, There is in fact a small Dravidian tribe of iron smelters in the Ranchi district and the eastern part of the Sarguja State who even now bear the name Asur. It is thus by no means certain that the people known to the Mundas as Asurs are of the same race as those who ruled in ancient Pātaliputra. Nor indeed is it certain that all the remains ascribed to the " Asurs "appertain to the same community. All that can at present be predicated is that they are memorials of the inhabitants of the Ranchi district before its occupation by the Mundās. Information as to the identity of the people in question can only be ascertained gradually and laboriously, if at all, by an investigation of the remains which

they have left behind them in their graveyards and elsewhere. Some brief preliminary notes on the cinerary urns found in these prehistoric burial places will be found amongst the Miscellaneous Contributions to the first number of our Journal. Babu Sarat Chandra Roy has since made a detailed investigation of several of these burial places, and his account of them will be found in the second number of our Journal. Under massive stone slabs, lying flat on the ground, are found, at a depth of a foot or so, one or more eartherware urns or gharas containing human bones and, in many cases, copper ornaments and beads of copper stone or rock crystal, and sometimes a small earthenware lamp. The mouth of the urn is closed with a small earthenware bowl. Some broken fragments of one of these cinerary urns are on the table before me. You will observe that the pottery is of a superior quality, highly polished and ornamented with lines. Specimens of the copper ornaments found in them are also on the table, the most noteworthy being the scorpion shaped ear ornaments. In some of the graveyards Sarat Babu found stone celts and other relics of the stone age, from which it would seem that the sites in question were inhabited even before the age of copper, or perhaps that the stone and copper ages overlapped, and that stone implements were still in use by the people of the copper age.

It is interesting to note that the rock crystal beads found in these burial places are very similar to those often found after rain at a place near Dumka in the Santāl Parganas, which is known to the Santals as the Hat (market) of the Bongas (spirits). The comparatively recent settlement of the Santāls probably accounts for the absence of any traditions regarding an earlier race of settlers and their consequent attribution of these beads to spirits.

The second number of our Journal has only just been issued, and I think you will agree that it maintains the high standard set by the first number, but while the first number was mainly devoted to ethnographic subjects, the second contains more papers dealing with history and archæology. Apart

from Babu Sarat Chandra Roy's paper which I have just mentioned there is a paper by Professor Jadu Nath Sarkar on Assam and the Ahoms in 1660, which is of special interest to me personally as a student of Assam history, and another by Mr. Jayaswal on Republics in the Mahabharata. Principal Jackson describes two new inscriptions in the Barabar Hills, and Mahamahopadhyaya Pandit Hara Prasad Shastri discusses the home of Kālidāsa.

We have not yet got all our material for the third number, but I may mention an account by Mr. B. C. Mazumdar of the old set of copper-plates which I hold in my hand and which have been presented to the Museum by the Mahārājā of the Sonpur State in Orissa. These plates were dug up in that State and Mr. Mazumdar attributes them to Yayati Gupta a scion of the family of the Gupta Kings of Bengal, who ruled in the 11th century and who, he thinks, had his capital at the junction of the Tel and Mahānadi rivers on the site now cccupied by the town of Sonpur. The same number will contain a paper by our Secretary on the occurrence of relics of the stone age in the Ranchi district, and also, I hope, the text and translation by Sir George Grierson, of the first of a collection of old dramas made by him many years ago, when he was Subdivisional Officer of Madhubani. The prose of these plays is usually in Sanskrit, and the songs are sometimes in Hindi and sometimes in the Maithili dialect. Sir George has written to me expressing his great satisfaction at the creation of our Society, and the paper just mentioned will, I hope, be followed by others from his accomplished pen.

In conclusion I would express the earnest hope that all members of the Society will do their utmost to further the objects with which it was established, and will not only endeavour to induce as many of their friends as possible to join the Society, but will also help to provide material for the Journal. There is an exceptionally wide field for research in Bihar and Orissa, owing to its diversity of races and languages, and its richness in sites of special historical and religious interest

and in archæological remains, dating back to pre-Buddhistic times, and comprising relics of some of the greatest dynasties that ever held sway in India. It is true that some members may have neither the leisure nor the special knowledge requisite for elaborate papers on the subjects with which the Society deals, but there are few who will not, at one time or another, come into possession of items of information which, though too small to publish as separate papers, are yet deserving of permanent record. In this connection I would invite your attention to the section provided at the end of the Journal for Miscellaneous Contributions. This is intended, like the defunct Punjab Notes and Queries, for the systematic entry of all such notes as I have just referred to. If members will help us by contributing all the information they can, a mass of facts will by degrees be collected which cannot fail to be of great use to subsequent enquirers. For example, it is quite possible that there may be in existence elsewhere prehistoric burial places similar to those in the Ranchi district which have been briefly described above. If any of our members should be fortunate enough to light on such a burial place, a note mentioning the fact, with such details as to its locality and characteristics as he may be able to give, would be of great use for the purpose of future enquiry. The discovery of Buddhistic or other old remains, of stone or copper celts, coins, etc., etc., might well be recorded in the same way. On the ethnographic side there is an even wider field for these Miscellaneous Contributions. Thus, we already have descriptions of the magic ritual followed by the Mundās and certain other tribes in order to cause rain to fall, to fertilize the soil and the like. Similar customs are no doubt in vogue amongst other tribes also; and, if so, it is of the utmost importance that they should be duly recorded. To take another instance, a traveller may happen to see an aboriginal funeral in progress, and, if so a full account of the ceremony, if not already available in print, would be most welcome. It would be equally welcome if the facts differ from those already recorded. There has

sometimes been a tendency in the past to idealize these primitive ceremonies; and I once saw one myself which differed very widely from the recorded account in the work of a writer of considerable repute.

When I was engaged on the last census of India I endeavoured to collect as full information as possible regarding the curious practice known as the Couvade. I found instances of it in many parts of India, but none in Bihar and Orissa. Mr. Friend-Pereira, however, has now found some apparent survivals of the practice amongst the Kui of the Khondmals. and the Mālē of the Rajmahal Hills, and has sent us a note which appears amongst the Miscellaneous Contributions in the second number of our Journal. Other members living in remote parts of the province may be able to discover similar instances, and if so, and they send us notes, we may hope in time to possess full information for the whole province. Again, there was no subject regarding which, at the census, I made more persistent efforts to get full information than the occurrence of blue pigmentation on the backs of newly born children, which a learned Professor of Tokio had declared to be an unmistakable proof of Mongolian race. The results, however, were somewhat disappointing. I succeeded in showing that the pigmentation occurs in many parts of India where the people are of non-Mongolian origin, but the data were so irregular that, while in one district in which enquiry was made, the pigmentation was found on 21 children out of 29 examined, in an adjoining district it was said to have been found only on 11 out of 3,000. It is clear that far more thorough investigation is needed than was possible in connection with the census; and if any member of our Society is willing to take up the matter in the district in which he resides, we shall be only too glad to record the results in the Miscellaneous section of the Journal. The illustrations given above show how difficult, if not impossible, it is for a single enquirer in a limited time to get anything like complete information on any ethnographic subject. Such information can be gained only by means of