instructive, and it brought to light an entirely new form of Sanskrit literary activity. The Vice-President stated that under Rule 18, the President, Council, and Office-bearers elected at the meeting held on 20th January 1915, shall hold office for three years, namely, up to December 1917. As that term has now expired the President, Council and Office-bearers have now to be elected for the current year under Rules 19 to 26. The Vice-President said that, as he had already mentioned in the annual address, Babu S. C. Roy does not wish to be re-elected as General Secretary; as he finds that he needs more time to devote to his Antiquarian and Ethnological researches, which also require his absence from Patna. Mr. S. Sinha also does not wish to stand for re-election as Honorary Treasurer, though he is willing to serve on the Council. The Council proposes the following list of Office-bearers and Council: :- PRESIDENT. His Honour Sir Edward Albert Gait, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., I.C.S. VICE-PRESIDENT. The Hon'ble Mr. E. H. C. Walsh, c.S.I., I.C.S. GENERAL SECRETARY. K. P. Jayaswal, Esq., M.A. JOINT SECRETARY. R. W. F. Shaw, Esq., M.A. TREASURER. Professor Jogindra Nath Samaddar, B.A. DEPARTMENTAL SECRETARIES. Secretaries for History Section-K. P. Jayaswal, Esq., M.A., Barrister-at-Law, and Professor J. N. Samaddar, B.A. Secretary for Archæology and Numismatics-The Hon'ble Mr. E. H. C. Walsh, c.8.1., I.C.S. Secretary for Anthropology and Folk-lore-Babu S. C. Roy, M.A., B.L. Secretaries for Philology-Māhāmahopadhyāya Paṇḍit Hara Prasad Shastri, M.A., C.I.E., and Nawab Shams-ul-'Ulama Saiyid Imdad Imam. MEMBERS OF SECTION SUB-COMMITTEES, OTHER THAN THE DEPARTMENTAL SECRETARIES, HISTORY.--Professor Jadu Nath Sarkar, M.A., P.R.S.. S. Sinha, Esq., Barrister-at-Law. Principal V. H. Jackson, M.A. K. P. Jayaswal, Esq., M.A., Barrister-at-Law. ANTHROPOLOGY,-His Honour Sir Edward Albert Gait, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., I.C.S. Mahāmahopadhyaya Paṇḍit Hara Prasad Shastri, M.A., C.I.E. PHILOLOGY.-Hon'ble Mr. C. E. A. W. Oldham, c.s.I., I.c.8. Mahāmahopadhyaya Dr. Ganga Nath Jha, M.A., D. Litt. Mahamahopadhyaya Paṇḍit Hara Prasad OTHER MEMBERS OF COUNCIL BESIDES THE PRESIDENT, THE The Hon'ble Mr. E. H. C. Walsh, c.s.I., I.C.S. Mahamahopadhyaya Paṇḍit H. P. Shastri, M.A., C.I.E. Dr. D. B. Spooner, B.A., Ph.D. The Hon'ble Mr. J. G. Jennings, I.c.s. S. Sinha, Esq., Barrister-at-Law. P. Kennedy, Esq., M.A., B.L. Professor Jadu Nath Sarkar, M.A., P.R.8. The above were unanimously elected. It was proposed by the Vice-President and seconded by the Hon'ble Mr. Oldham and carried unanimously that Rule 34 be amended by substituting the word "February " for "December" for the date of the Annual Meeting. It was proposed by the Vice-President and seconded by Hon'ble Mr. Jackson and carried unanimously that the figure "7" be omitted from the words "7 Vice-Patrons" in Rule 4. It was proposed by the Vice-President and seconded by the Hon'ble Mr. Oldham and carried unanimously that Sir Dawson Miller be elected a Vice-Patron in place of Sir Edward Chamier who has permanently left India. It was proposed by the Vice-President and seconded by Professor Samaddar and carried unanimously that Raja Kamaleshwari Prasad Singh be elected a Vice-Patron, Annual Report of the Council for the year 1917. THE year under review has been one of steady progress for the Society. There has been an addition of twenty-eight new members during the year, but we have lost three members by death and five by resignation. The coins and other objects of archæological, ethnological and historical interest collected by the Society have been formally made over to the Provincial Museum, which was constituted during the year. The office of the Society has been transferred from Ranchi to Patna, where Government have kindly placed at the Society's disposal a few rooms adjoining the Museum rooms in one of the Annexés to the High Court buildings. MEMBERSHIP. The total number of ordinary members is now 331. In addition to these we have eight Honorary members and seven Lifemembers. PUBLICATIONS. During the year four issues of the Journal have been published; and the reappears to be an increasing demand for the Journal in learned bodies. Principal Jackson is making progress in editing and preparing for the Press the first volume of Dr, Buchanan Hamilton's Journal which deals with the modern districts of Patna and Gayā, and has now obtained from the India Office a complete copy of the Journal of Shahabad. This publication will be of very great interest. A Pandit has been employed to prepare catalogues of ancient Sanskrit manuscripts in Orissa and 1,740 manuscripts have already been catalogued by him, of which he reports that more than 100 are hitherto unpublished. Steps are also being taken to appoint another Pandit for similar work in the Bihār districts. Mahāmahopadhyaya Pandit Hara Prasad Shastri has very kindly offered to give necessary directions to the Pandits. MEETINGS. During the year there were six meetings of the Council for the transaction of the ordinary business of the Society. The Council regret they have not been able to arrange for any ordinary meeting for the reading of papers during the year, but hope to be able to do so during the current year. LIBRARY. Government have generously provided the Society with a library of about one thousand volumes of select books and journals, and a reading room has been fitted up for the use of members. Mr. S. Sinha will, it is expected, shortly make over to the Society the books in his library, on the subjects dealt with by the Society, that he promised to present. FINANCES. From the abstract statement of account appended to this report it will be seen that the financial condition of the Society is sound. It is to be regretted, however, that a sum of as much as Rs. 4,265 is still due from members on account of subscriptions. The cost of publication of the Society's Journal has been Rs. 3,589-12-9 as compared with Rs. 2,526-9-6 last year, an increase of Rs. 1,063-3-3. The chief reason for this is the larger number of plates that have been published and to the fact that all the plates of copper-plate grants found in the Tributary States of Orissa in the Journals for March, June and September 1916, were presented by the Raja of Sonepur. Of the 22 plates of such grants which appeared in the Journal for December 1916, which is included in the expenditure of the year under report, 5 were presented by the Raja of Sonepur, but the other 17 plates were paid for by the Society. |