the Secretary of the Asiatic Society, and extending to the Journal of the Asiatic Society, should cease from the 4th June, 1834. After some discussion, the Secretary was empowered, in any representation he might think fit to make to the Government, on the plea of his engagement to print official documents of a scientific nature, to express the earnest desire of the Society for the continuance of a privilege which has already proved so highly beneficial to the interests and extension of Science in India. Library. The following Books were presented : MARCEL'S Contes Arabes du CHEYKH EL-MOHDY, for July, August, September, October, and November, 1832, and February, March, April, and May, 1833-by the Author. Journal Asiatique, 64, 65-by the Asiatic Society of Paris. ABDUL MUJEED's edition of the Seyr-ul Mutakhereen, 1 vol.-by the Editor. Sixth volume of the Transactions of the Medical and Physical Society—by the Society. Select Speeches of John Serjeant of Pennsylvania-by Herambanath Thakoor. The following works, published under the auspices of the General Committee of Public Instructions, were forwarded by the Secretary, Mr. J. C. C. Sutherland. Inaya, vol. 4. Kefaya, vols. 3 and 4. Aphorisms of Hippocrates. Sudeedee. Fatawa Alemgiri, vol. 4. Retnavali. WILSON'S Sanscrit Dictionary. Meteorological Registers from July to November, 1833-by the Surveyor Gene ral. MS. Register of the Weather at Jorhat, Assam, for the months of August and September, 1833—by Mr. H. Bigge. The following books were received from the book-sellers : Chronology of History. Read an extract of a letter from Captain J. B. JERVIS, Bombay Engineers. The letter announces, that the writer is engaged in the publication of a systematic account of the weights and measures of India, to which is annexed an account of Indian Chronology, gleaned from the Vedas, Siddhantas, Puránas, &c. and brought into one view with the systems that have prevailed in all ages over the world. Whence he has deduced that all have a common origin, and that the measures of time in use among the Hindus were introduced so late as A. D. 607-8. The work is in octavo, 700 pages, and is now nearly through the press. It is to be published by subscription. Resolved, that the prospectus be circulated among the members, and a list of subscribers returned to Captain JERVIS. Antiquities. A large Lingam, from the Jangíra rock-presented by Lieut. T. S. BURT, Engineers. An ancient Hindu gold coin (corresponding with No. 17 of WILSON's plates, As. Res. xvii.) was exhibited to the meeting-by the same. Accurate drawings of the stone lath or column now lying in the Fort at Allahabad, and fac similes of all the inscriptions on it; and a small fragment of the stone-by the same. A paper on the subject, by Lieut. BURT, was read. A talwar, or native sword of iron, dug up from six feet under the bed of the Jamna river, was also presented by the same. The weapon is of the modern form, and was probably lost with some wreck; it was corroded nearly through its substance. A manuscript table exhibiting the particulars of the twenty-four Jinas of the Budh religion, drawn up by a Pundit at Hyderabad-presented by Mr. E. C. RAVENSHAW. Museum. A piece of planking and copper sheathing, from the bottom of the Barque Adele, pierced by the horn of an unicorn fish, on her voyage from Penang to Akyab, on the 24th January, 1833-presented by Dr. TWINING, on the part of Dr. BAKER, Civil Surgeon of Noacolly. The following extract from the log of the vessel was read: Lat. 9° 23′ 53′′ north, Long. 96° 31′45′′ east, at 8h. 3m. P. M. of the 24th Jan., felt a sudden very severe shock aft, which made the vessel shake: could not account for it. 26th January. Found the vessel leak slightly, in consequence as supposed of the shock. 12th February. Lying at Akyab; cleared away sand-ballast, to examine the cause of the leak. Found a rent in the ship's bottom, caused by the horn of an unicorn fish thrust through the copper sheathing, and four inches of planking; the horn protruded seven inches on the interior, and had been snapped off close to the copper on the outside by the struggles doubtless of the animal to disengage itself. EDWARD MARGUARD, Commander." A stuffed Pangolin, or five-toed Manis-presented by Dr. BURLINI. Two tigers' heads; the skin of a Boa Constrictor, 14 feet long; two stuffed birds; two triangles, ornamented with peacock's feathers; an Assamese hat, and other Curiosities from Assam, were presented by Dr. BURLINI, in the name of M. B. BIANCHI. Further specimens of the Hoshungabad coal were received, from Captain J. R. OUSELEY. Although of a better quality than the former specimen, (see page 485,) this slaty coal is still very inferior, being in fact little better than a bituminous shale; its composition agrees nearly with that of the specimen inserted in the table of India coals, page 283 of the GLEANINGS, vol. iii. Specimens of the fossil bones, kankar, and rocks extracted from the bed of the Jamna-by Lieut. T. S. BURT, Engineers. These form a valuable addition to the fossils presented in the name of Captain E. SMITH at the last Meeting, and they contain the following bones not found in that series: 14. Fragments of the tusk of an elephant: one picce of very large size. Part of the jaw of a human skull, and one other bone, were evidently recent, burning before the blowpipe, &c. whereas those in the fossil state did not contain the slightest trace of animal matter, and were of much higher specific gravity than ordinary bones: the animal matter seemed principally replaced by carbonate of lime and clay iron. Drawings of the three teeth, marked as above, 13, 14, 15, have been inserted in the Plate of Captain SMITH'S collection, (Pl. xxv. of the present number.) Lieut. BURT also presented a collection of nine species of shells found in the bed of the Jamna at Kárim Khán. Captain E. SMITH's notes on the kankar formation, and on the fossil bones, collected in the Jumna river, were then read. Also a letter from Dr. H. H. SPRY, on the subject of the fossil shells, presented by him at a former Meeting. [Both of these are printed in the present number.] A map of a route from Hoshangabad to the Fort of Makrai, in the Kalíbhít hills, was presented in the name of Lieut. R. H. MILES, with remarks on the Goand inhabitants, and on the features of the country, by the same officer. A note on the climate of the fossil elephant, by the Rev. R. EVEREST, was read. [These will be printed in an early number.] Thanks were voted for the several contributions of the evening. X.-Miscellaneous. [ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.] 1.-Note on the Tailor Bird's Nest. By Lieut. Gifford. "I send you a tailor bird's nest along with the Journal of the Asiatic Society, in which I see a description is given of it. This is the third nest I have found; the first one was built in a banghen bush; the two last in a low thick shrub (name I know not,) but the natives make a reddish dye from the flower, which is a very light yellow colour, with pretty large leaves. The specimen I send you was constructed of three green living leaves, with two small old (dry) ones, to fill up a space where the living ones would not meet. The leaves were sewn together with raw and spun cotton; the bird is a light brown above, and a dirty white below, about four inches in length from tip of bill to end of tail: the malis call the bird Phutki." 2.-Note on the Inscription on the Hindu Coin. (Pl. VIII. Fig. 15.) At page 415 of the present volume I stated, that the characters of the inscription on the reverse of the ancient gold coins of Hindu fabrication from Kanouj, represented in fig. 15, and in several coins of Plate I. vol. xvii. Asiatic Researches, was not legible. Mr. WILSON had however suggested, that the three first letters agreed with the ancient Nagarí characters, and I find on referring to Dr. BABINGTON'S Account of the Inscriptions and Sculptures at Mahúmalaipúr, that all of the letters may be unquestionably identified with the ancient Sanskrit characters of the Ratha sculpture, so ably decyphered by that gentleman, and of which he has given a complete alphabet in the same volume. The first letter is probably rather than or BABINGTON, these letters are very similar in form; whole word thus restored becomes clearly hidden as ever; and if it be a proper name, none logues of Hindu princes.-ED. although as observed by Dr. the fourth letter is and the : but the meaning is still as such is to be found in the cata 3.-Radiation in Valleys. Mr. W. Cracroft, in 1832, made the following observations for several mornings at sun-rise, in passing over the Kasya hills, on the radiation of heat to the sky. 20 Mopea, 43* 39 33 32 21 Ongshye, 22 Ránígaon, 37.5 30 at top, six inches above the ground. 25.5 at bridge, ditto on top of hill on a mat, ice within six inches of bulb, out all night!(?) at bridge. at top of hill, two feet raised. at bottom of valley, 80 feet below. 37.5 heavy dew, same on straw. 46† 14 ft. from ground. +In a ditch 2 ft. dp. From the above, it may generally be remarked, that the bottom of a valley is much colder than the top of a hill at night; although the latter must be much more open to radiation : aërial currents may be the cause of this apparent anomaly. 4.-Bones in the Delta Alluvium. In the Report of the Asiatic Society's Committee on the boring experiment an observation occurs, that some bones were discovered in the strata of blue clay alluVium of the circular canal, at a depth of about 20 feet below the surface: on reference to some old papers in Mr. Wilson's possession, a memorandum has been met with of a similar fact observed on digging a tank at Dumdum, in the year 1813. Lieut. J. COLVIN, Engineers, describes the circumstance as follows:-"The soil is throughout a fine garden mould, from two to three feet thick :- there are no nálás visible, but Dumdum is nearly surrounded by jhils and salt-water lakes. The bones form a kind of regular line with some intervals of a foot or two between them; they lie pretty close together, their interstices filled with earth. They are so soft that all but the thickest bones break on endeavouring to separate them from the earth. I cannot say to what animal they belong, but I am very sure there are now no animals at Dumdum to which such large bones could have belonged, and I have never heard of any kind of deer near the place. The tree was found at a depth of 18 feet below the ground; it seems to be Soondry, (as is the case with most of the wood found in similar situations elsewhere.)" We hope when a deposit of bones is again found, either at Dumdum or in any other parts of the Delta, some pains will be taken to extract them carefully, for comparison with existing species of the inhabitants of the present Sunderban swamps and forests; for, although, geologically speaking, they are of very modern origin, and we trace in the names of villages considerably higher up the Delta the fact of the present continent having at one period been divided into islands: such as Agardwip, Sukhsagar, &c. Still at the present observed rate of recovery of flooded Sunderband land, it appears to require a very lengthened process to fill up from 18 to 25 feet of alluvium over the peat stratum, which was evidently the Sunderban vegetation of the time. History lends no aid in defining the sea boundary at different epochs. We must therefore seek the aid of physical research to solve the interesting question of the growth of the Delta. J. P. 5.-Fall of Fish from the Sky. The phenomenon of fish falling from the sky in the rainy season, however incredible it may appear, has been attested by such circumstantial evidence, that no reasonable doubt can be entertained of the fact. I was as incredulous as my neighbours, until I once found a small fish, which had apparently been alive when it fell, in the brass funnel of my pluviometer at Benares, which stood on an insulated stone pillar, raised five feet above the ground in my garden. I have now before me a note of a similar phenomenon, on a considerable scale, which happened at the Nokulhatty factory, zillah Dacca Jelalpur, in 1830. Mr. Cameron, who communicated the fact, took the precaution of having a regular deposition of the evidence of several natives who had witnessed the fall, made in Bengalee, and attested before the magistrate: the statement is well worthy of preservation in a journal of science; I therefore make no apology for introducing a translation at length. The shower of fish took place on the 19th February, 1830, in the neighbourhood of the Surbundy factory, Feridpoor. J. P. Deposition of the Witnesses to the Fall of Fish from Heaven, on the 9th of Phalgun, 1236, B. E. at Havelli, zillah Dacca Jelalpur. 1. Shekh Kitabuddin, son of Shabdi, and Shekh Shumsuddin, son of Bakshu, were called, and declared in their deposition, saying, "That on Friday, in the month of Phalgun, we do not recollect the date, at 12 o'clock P. M., the sky being cloudy, there was slight rain, and a number of fish of different kinds and sizes fell from heaven; we took some of these fish and retired home. This is the account which we know." 2. Shekh Sulimuddin, son of Ibadullah, inhabitant of Bibhagdi, declared in answer, saying, "On a Friday, in the month of Phalgun, the date of which I do not recollect, at 12 o'clock evening, while I was coming from a village named Nukolbatí, I perceived a badali fish, large about one cubit, fall before me from the sky; after which, I went further, and found another fish of the same size, lying upon the ground. I picked up these two fish and proceeded forward; and as soon as I arrived at home, I found, to my great surprize, that many persons had likewise collected fish, and carried along with them. This is all, and I know no more.' |
