Other Members of Council besides the President, the General Secretary, the Treasurer and the Librarian. V. H. Jackson, Esq., M.A. The Hon'ble Sir B. K. Mullick, Kr. G. E. Fawcus, Esq., M.A., O.B.E., C.I.E. K. P. Jayaswal, Esq., M.A., Bar.-at-Law. P. C. Manuk, Esq., Bar.-at-Law. Rai Bahadur Ramgopal Singh Chaudhury. Dr. A. Banerji-Sastri, M.A., Ph.D. By Rai Bahadur Sarat Chandra Roy, M.A., B.L., Miscellaneous Contributions. 186-187 I. Fragmentary Stone Inscription of Govindpur II. On the Indian Folk-belief about the Corpse eating the By Sarat Chandra Mitra, M.A., B.L. 188-193 LEADING ARTICLES I.-Archæological Research at Patna* By V. H. Jackson, M.A., I,E.S. Archæological research in the neighbourhood of Patna has been confined almost exclusively to sites at a considerable distance south of the present city or of that occupied in mediæval times. Kharaunia, Chhotipahar and Barapahar, which have been investigated to some extent, are about two miles south of the bank of the Ganges. Kumrahar, Bulandibagh and Lobanipur are all close to the railway line, but still not less than 1 or 1 mile from the river. Within the present oity itself there seems to be no record of any deep excavation except that of the Mangles Tank just fifty years ago. Regarding this, which is fully half a mile from the Ganges, a former Principal of Patna College, Mr. J. W. McCrindle, has recorded that a line of wooden palisades was discovered, running from north-west to south-east. In the more closelysettled areas of Bankipore, Gulzarbagh and Patna City practically nothing is known about the levels beneath the present surface of the ground. Buchanan mentions that " everywhere in digging, broken pots, but very little else, are to be found; Lecture delivered at the Annual General Meeting of the Society on the 22nd March 1927. 1 1 Res. J. and where the river washes away the bank, many old wells are laid open, but nothing has been discovered to indicate large or magnificent buildings." In areas such as these, attempts to carry out systematic exploration have doubtless been prevented by considerations of the cost of acquiring land as well as other difficulties, but until something of the kind is undertaken there is nothing to justify the opinion which is commonly held, that ancient Pataliputra itself has been washed away by encroachments of the river. Amongst the important developments, however, which are now taking place in the neighbourhood of Patna College in connection with the University scheme, a modern sewage system is being installed, in connection with which a network of trenches for sewers and one or two fair-sized tanks are being dug to depths extending in places as far down as twentyfour or twenty-five feet below the surface. Though this work is naturally being carried out by the contractors in a manner which would not be approved by scientific archaeologists, it can nevertheless be regarded as a preliminary exploration of the site, and as a means of learning something more about the oldest of the capitals which, in fulfilment of the remarkable prophecy attributed to the Buddha himself, great men have been impelled to establish in this neighbourhood. Two tube wells have also been bored recently on this site for the future water-supply and have been carried down to depths of 325 and 275 feet. An examination of the material brought up during these borings has thrown light on the nature of the underground strata corresponding to periods much earlier than those of which there is any historical record. In order to take advantage of such a unique opportunity, a close watch has been kept on the work so far as it has yet proceeded. Besides opening up several promising lines for further study, some definite results have already been obtained, which it is possible to mention now. It is generally assumed that the average rate at which soil forms over old sites, due to the deposition of dust, silt, etc is something like one foot a century. Estimates even higher |