A paper was read, drawn up by Munshi MOHUN LAL, who accompanied Dr. GERARD, explaining the circumstances of the discovery of this image, from which the following is an extract.

"South of the town of Kábul, two miles distant, a range of rugged and barren mountains commands the ruins of the ancient city, which shews nothing curious but a heap of dust mingled with stones and bricks. In the rainy season the poorer class of people rove about and search the place day and night, and their labours are rewarded by finding small silver and gold leaves bearing the figure of the sun and moon upon them; sometimes they possess themselves of cows and deers made of stone or copper of a very small size but beautiful form. While we remained at Kábul we employed our time in digging the antiquities and the graves of the old inhabitants of that country, which are said to be both Bactrians and Buddhist, but unfortunately none of the mausoleums favored us with any coin or writing by which we could prove the descent of the buried. However some of them contained earthen lamps full of small pieces of bones and also rotten pearls, which confirm the dead to have been idolators. The Hindoos both of the present and former days who believe in the multiplicity of Gods, maintain a peculiar custom of filling the mouth of their deceased with pearls and also with coins. All these monuments flourish at the skirt of the same hill which views the ruins of the ancient city.

On the 7th of November, 1833, we hurried down to the above place, and hired nine men to dig the earth till the day closed, but our labours were fruitless; from the 8th to the 19th of the same month, we continued our operations, and during which space the diggers were checked by a close work of lime structure. We told them to break through it, and after digging seven paces further, they opened in a large and beautiful roofed square; it must have remained long in such a state of preservation that one might suppose that it was freshly plastered with lime. The cell was handsomely gilt and coloured by lapislazuli, which is found in considerably quantities in the mines of Badakhshán, 12 days' journey from Kábul : such was the situation of the place where we found the stone image lying on the ground."

The figure represents Buddha in the usual sitting posture of tranquil repose, clothed to the neck in a thin flowing drapery; flames of sacred fire appear on his shoulders, and a circular glory surrounds the whole, serving as a field for the sculpture, for it is an alto relievo: upon the glory are carved two angels bearing chattas, and on each side a small group representing some acts of Buddha's life: in one he seems to be distributing charity, in the other he is receiving the homage of his worshippers.

We shall take an early opportunity of inserting a sketch of this sculpture, which is highly important from its apparent connection with the history of the Afghan topes.

A letter from Lieut. E. C. ARCHBOLD, Bengal Light Cavalry, dated Bombay, 5th July, 1834, announced that he had forwarded to the Secretary, as a present to the Society, an Egyptian mummy.

The mummy was obtained with some difficulty from the tombs of the kings at Gourvah. The native crew on board the ship which brought Lieut. A. from Mocha, having objected to receive the Mummy with his baggage, he had been under the necessity of requesting one of the officers of the Sloop of War Coote to bring it

onward to Bombay, whence it will be forwarded to Calcutta by the earliest opportunity.

Mr. TREVELYAN introduced Munshi MOHUN LAL to the Vice-President and Members, who proceeded to exhibit the articles brought to Calcutta by him, of which many were presents to the Society from Dr. GERARD.

The collection consisted of ancient coins; seeds of fruits, flowers and trees from Kábul; the sculpture already noticed; and specimens of the manufactures and natural productions of Afghanistan.

Among the coins were the usual variety of Indo-Scythic and Bactrian now so fa. miliar to us: one very beautiful silver tetradrachm, of EUTHYDEMUS, attracted peculiar attention from its rich relief and exquisite workmanship. Several of the copper moneys of APOLLODOTUS, MENANDER, the AGATHOCLES of Masson, HERMÆUS, KANERKOS, KADPHISES, &c. had very legible inscriptions. These coins had been procured in various places on their route through the agency of MOHU N LAL for Dr. GERARD, but he had unfortunately omitted to notice the localities in which each variety was most prevalent.

The box of seeds was made over on arrival, to Dr. WALLICH, who has examined them with care, and has selected a portion for transmission to the colony of VanDieman's Land, where they are likely to thrive and become a valuable acquisition, for the fruit of Kábul is proverbial for its excellence and variety.

The specimens of cloth, silk, carpet, chintz, of the countries passed through on the return of the travellers from Meshid to Kábul may be useful to the commereial community.

Extracts from the journal regularly kept by MOHUN LAL, in English, from the day he joined Lieut. BURNES's party were read. They evinced very respectable fluency in the English language, and a laudable and lively curiosity into the new objects and the manners of the people among whom he was travelling for the first time and at so early an age. A wish was expressed by some of the members present that he would publish his notes, scattered extracts of which have already appeared in the Delhi newspaper : we are sure that such an object would meet with general encouragement, and that this first fruit of English education in the mofussil would do credit to the pupil, and to his Almamater the Delhi AngloIndian College.

The best thanks of the Society, were voted to Dr. GERARD and to MOHUN LAL for these valuable contributions.

Read a letter from W. H. WATHEN, Esq. Persian Secretary to the Bombay Government, communicating a memoir on the Uzbek state of Kokan, (the ancient Ferghana) in central Asia; also the memoir of a Pilgrimage made by an Usbek and his two sons from Kokan through Russia to Mecca, in the year 1820.

These interesting papers, relating to a state placed betwixt our Indian Empire, China, and the territories of Russia, will form a valuable sequel to the information derived from the expeditions of MOORCROFT, BURNES, and GERARD: we make no analysis, because they will be published at length, in a forthcoming No. of the Journal.

Physical,

A small collection of the principal fossil shells of the gault and greensand of Hythe was presented in the name of Captain JOHN FINNIS, on his return to India from furlough.

These shells are described in a small work by Professor FITTON, on the Geology of Hastings; he deduces from their presence the identity in time of this formation and the chalk: the collection contains the following shells :

A letter was read from Major BURNEY, Resident at the Burmese Court, dated Rangoon, June 17th, accompanying an extensive collection of fossil bones from Yenang-young and the neighbouring hills in Ava, for the inspection and examination of the members of the Asiatic Society. Also a few in a separate package obtained by Captain McLEOD, during his Mission up the Khyendwen river, (a fossil elephant's jaw and teeth.)

Major BURNEY describes the mode in which this magnificent collection had been made by the natives at his instigation. "Every Burman, from the Governor to the peasant, strove to make the search after fossils a good speculation, and they were brought to me one by one to secure a more advantageous bargain. There was no digging for them: they were found lying on the very surface of the ground, sometimes only partially covered by the peculiar sandy and gravelly soil of that part of the country. Some of the fossil teeth will be observed to be injured: this proceeds from small bits having been chipped off by the Burmese to be used as medicine,—to be ground down with water and taken for the gravel.”

The general nature of the Ava fossils has been so ably treated of in Professor BUCKLAND'S memoir on the collection taken home by Mr. CRAWFURD, that nothing is wanting on this head: almost all the individuals noted by him may be recognized in the present series: which contains on a rough examination the following species:

2 jaws and several teeth of the fossil elephant.

7 jaws and teeth of mastodon, hippopotamus, &c.

8 fragments of alligators' jaws.

47 vertebræ of saurian reptiles.

170 fragments of the emys and trionyx shell.

1 humerus of the rhinoceros, and nearly

200 unclassified fragments of bone.

The Secretary noticed the safe arrival of the gigantic remains of the fossil elephant discovered by Dr. SPILSBURY in the banks of the Omar Nadí near Narsinghpur.

They had been dispatched from Jabalpur across the country to Benares, where Dr. Row had kindly taken charge of them until an opportunity offered for their secure conveyance to Calcutta under charge of Captain SAYERS. The five fragments, consisting of the extremities of two fossil femurs of a mammoth and the head of a buffalo, were placed on the table side by side of modern skeletons of the same nature, to exhibit the contrast more forcibly. Extracts from Dr. SPILSBURY's letters, and a note by the Secretary were read :-also a memoir by Dr. SPILSBURY on a geological section which he has recently had an opportunity of making across the

valley of the Nerbudda from Tendukhera to Bittoul, during which he discovered another locality of fossil deposit. It was accompanied by a map of the country. This paper and the fossil notices shall be given if possible in our next number, to satisfy the great curiosity excited by the uncommon perfection of the specimens.

The geological specimens were accompanied by samples of the coal discovered by Captain OUSELEY, whose report of progress in examination of the strata was also read.

IX.-Miscellanea.

1.-Note on the Locality of Rájagriha, and Description of the Town of that Name in Behár, and of a Hot Spring in the neighbouring Hills.

Rájagriha was JARASANDHA'S capital city :-query-is it the Rájagriha, the capital of Prachi proper, which was built by PRITHU, and taken by BALARA'M, brother of KRISHNA, or is the latter the same as Rájmehal? The present village of Rajagriha, or Rájgír, contains about 800 or 900 houses, and is situated about 13 or 14 miles S. S. W. of the town of Behar, on the north side of a range of hills of that name (Rájgir). A little way up a valley, south of the village, are a number of hot-springs, similar to that at Monghir. In the hottest spring the water stood at 108 in October, when the temperature of the atmosphere was about 70o. The water on a rough examination was found to contain a very minute portion of nitre, or a substance resembling it. These springs are considered sacred by the Hindús. Farther up the valley expands into an open plain, surrounded by hills, about one and a half or two miles in diameter, where in several places the remains of the old city of JARASANDHA is pointed out. There is a tradition of a great battle having been fought there between the Jains, under SREENIK A Mahárája, and JARASANDHA, or his successors; and a cave in the side of one of the hills, (similar in shape to those near Gyah,) is pointed out as the place where one of the parties concealed all his treasure: tradition says, it is still to be found.

There is still an establishment of Jains in Rájgir: they have a number of small temples on the tops of the neighbouring hills, and at a place called Pava Puri, six or seven miles east from Rájgír, in the centre of a small lake, is one of some importance, which is visited by numerous Jains on their way to, and from, Párisnáth. T. R.

2.-Note on the Temperature of Wells at Náhan.

With reference to the Rev. Mr. EVEREST'S Remarks on the Climate of the Fossil Elephant, (Art. III. January No.) the following observations relative to the temperature of Náhan, may (in absence of better information) be useful.

November 7. Temperature of several springs issuing from the north-side of the hill, on which Náhun is situated, 70 to 71°; water exposed in Boulis, 64 to 69o. Observation taken in the evening.

Snow is said in the memory of man to have fallen only once at Nahan.

From the localities of Náhan, which is situated on the bare crest of a rocky hill, it seems improbable that wild elephants should frequently haunt that place; the Kardah Dún lies about 6 or 800 feet lower down, it is covered with rich rank vegetation; here elephants are found.

Hyænas are common at Simlah, the mean temperature of which is between 57° and 58°; they are found during summer, at elevations of 8 or 10,000 feet, their winter habitations I know not.

Has Mr. FLEMING explained in what manner we find fossil tropical plants in regions where such plants no longer thrive? LYELL remarks, "We cannot suppose the leaves of tree ferns to be transported by water for thousands of miles without being injured.” D. S.

3.-Fall of Fish.

On the 16th or 17th May last, a fall of fish happened in mouza Sonare, pergunna Dhata Ekdullah, zillah Futtehpur. The zemindars of the village have furnished the following particulars, which are confirmed by other accounts: About noon, the wind being from the west, and a few distant clouds visible, a blast of high wind, accompanied with much dust, which changed the atmosphere to a reddish yellow hue, came on; the blast appeared to extend in breadth about 400 yards, chappers were carried off, and trees blown down. When the storm had passed over, they found the ground, south of the village, to the extent of two bigahs, strewed with fish, in number not less than three or four thousand. The fish were all of the Chalwa species, (Clupea cultrata, Shakespear's Dictionary,) a span or less in length, and from one and a half to half a seer in weight: when found, they were all dead and dry. Chalwa fish are found in the tanks and rivers in the neighbourhood. The nearest tank in which there is water is about half a mile south of the village. The Jumna runs about three miles south of the village, the Ganges 14 miles N. by E. The fish were not eaten; it is said, that in the pan they turned into blood! Allahabad, June 26, 1834.

4.-Transactions of the Batavian Society, Vol. XIV.

S.

[We have given an analysis of the 13th volume of this rapidly increasing collection, in vol. ii. page 597.]

The contents of the 14th volume are, “ Historical Review of the Proceedings of the Europeans at Japan, by G. E. MEYLAN, chief of the Netherland trade at Japan." Also a "Treatise on Acupuncture, by Dr. VON SIEBOLD."

The whole of the 15th volume is a Grammar of the Java language, by the late Mr. CORN. DE GROET, published at Batavia by Mr. GERICKE, Director of the Java Institution at Soerekarta.

5.-Protection of Tinned Sheet Iron from Rust.

Serjeant DODD, late overseer of the Jumna works, constructed a buoy of tin, which he painted with two coats of white lead: he then gave it a coat of hog's lard, about the thickness of a coat of paint, and laid over this latter, another coat of paint: each coat was allowed to dry thoroughly. The buoy was then placed in the river, so as to remain continually under water all the rains, or nearly a year. When taken up, the experiment was found to have succeeded completely. [Had the water penetrated to the tin, a galvanic action would have caused a rapid corrosion of the iron. If the iron however were carefully coated on the edges and joints, the tin would form a perfect protection, without the aid of paint or grease.] A.