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International Law in Ancient India, by S. B. Viswa

natha.-E. A. H.

Notes of the Quarter.

I. Proceedings of a Quarterly Meeting of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society held at the Society's office on the 30th January 1927

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II. Proceedings of a Quarterly Meeting of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society held at the Society's office on the 13th March 1927

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III. Proceedings of the Annual General Meeting held in the
Wheeler Senate Hous, under the Presidency of His
Excellency Sir Henry Wheeler, on the 22nd March
1927

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IV. Annual Report of the Bihar and Orissa Research
Society, 1926-27

V. List of Members

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LEADING ARTICLES

I—Annual Meeting of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society

Review of the work of the year 1926 by V. H. Jackson, Esq., Vice-President of the Society

DURING the year under review the Society has suffered a severe loss in the untimely death of Sir John Bucknill, who first became a member of our Council in 1922, and took a leading part in the subsequent reconstruction. Before coming to Patna, Sir John had been President of the well-known Raffles Museum at Singapore, so that in securing his consent to undertake similar duties in connection with the Provincial Museum this province was exceptionally fortunate. He had specialised in ornithology and numismatics, but his interests extended over a much wider range and included many of our special activities. Members of the Society, especially those who remember the impression created by his address at the University Convocation of 1923, will learn with much regret

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9 Res. J.

that his death has deprived us of the opportunity of hearing another address from him at this meeting, as he had offered to speak on one of his favourite subjects, the History of Coins.

As already announced on the notices of this meeting, Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. Gananath Sen had accepted the invitation of the Council to deliver an address to-day, on the subject of Ancient Indian Medicine, but I regret to say that a telegram was received from him on Saturday last stating that owing to indisposition he cannot come to Patna, and asking that his apologies may be conveyed to the President and members of the Society.

Owing to his appointment as Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University, Professor Jadunath Sarkar, who has been a member of our Council from the commencement and has frequently contributed to the Journal in connection with his studies in Mughal and Mahratta history, has been compelled to resign. We have also lost, though fortunately only temporarily, the services of Mr. Horne, who as General Secretary since 1922 has done so much to bring the affairs of the Society into their present satisfactory condition.

From these topics, it is a more pleasant task to turn to the progress of the Society during the past year. As regards membership and finance, the usual reports of the Secretary and Treasurer, which are in the hands of members, show that we are at least maintaining our ground. During Your Excellency's term of office, the idea of a building for a Museum has, like other still larger proposals for the intellectual advancement of Patna as a provincial capital, evolved out of the stage of alternative schemes into that of a settled fact, and the Research Society has special reason to be thankful to Government for the decision that, in the building which is now rising above the ground on the Patna-Gaya road, a separate wing will be reserved for its office and records, for its meetings, and above all, for its library.

The value of any Society of this type must be judged mainly by two things, the quality of the library

The Library

provided for the use of its specialist

members and that of its Journal and other publications. This Society is still handicapped by its comparative youth, but this is an error which gradually corrects itself, and it has already shown that there is ample room for it in India. Our library is by no means large at present, for it contains less than 3,500 volumes, but it is unusually valuable for its size, and it now receives almost all the allied journals published in different parts of the world. These in particular are gradually being improved by purchase of back numbers where available, but it is obvious that the library still needs both further development and more publicity, neither of which is possible until the Society moves into its new home. The handsome donation of our latest Vice-Patron, the Maharaja of Mayurbhanj, announced last year is being kept as a nucleus for the former purpose, and a catalogue will be printed and supplied to members after the rearrangement of its contents which the transfer will entail. Our policy ought not to be one of attempting to compete with other local institutions, such as the Oriental and Sinha Public Libraries and those of the University and the attached colleges, in their wider scope, but one of continuing to specialise on definite lines, working in co-operation with these libraries in such a way that in a few years' time it may be possible to offer in Patna to students of advanced Indology at least one copy of every important book which they may require.

The Journal

Undoubtedly the most satisfactory feature of the year is the high standard maintained by our Journal, which continues to grow in reputation both in India and abroad, to an extent which may best be judged by the increasing number of references to its contributions in the leading publications of other learned societies. It has continued under the editorship of Mr. Jayaswal with the assistance of Dr. Banerji-Sastri, who has also undertaken the duties of Honorary Secretary during the absence of Mr. Horne. All four issues have been duly brought out, and contain over 600 pages of original matter, as well as ten plates illustrating inscriptions, seals,

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