260 Proceedings of the Albany Institute. 



Professor David Murray was thereupon elected a cor- 

 responding member of the Institute. 



The following persons were nominated as residenl mem- 

 bers: Prof. James Weir Mason, of the Albany A.cademy, 

 by Mr. Pruyn ; Jacob S. Mosher,ofthe Albany Academy, 

 by Dr. Townsend; Col. Lockwood L. Doty, Chief of the Bu- 

 reau of Military Statistics, by -Dr. Hough. 



The rule as to nominations being suspended by unani- 

 mous consent, these gentlemen were duly elected resident 

 members. 



Dr. J. 8. Mo-dier was appointed aecretary pro tem.^ until 

 the annual election of officers in January next. 



December loth, 1863. 



The president, Mr. Pruyn, in the chair. Present, nine- 

 teen members, and several gentlemen not members. 



Dr. Howard Townsend read a paper upon the discovery 

 and publication of the ancient manuscript known as the 

 "Sinai Bible" or "Biblioruni Codex Sinaiticus." This 

 manuscript accidentally came to the knowledge ^\' Dr. 

 Tischcndorf, the well known biblical antiquarian, about 

 four years since, while making researches, under the pa- 

 tronage of the Czar, for Greek and Oriental manuscripts, 

 and especially such as might be serviceable in promoting 

 biblical and ecclesiastical learning. At the convent on 

 Mount Sinai, in possession of the Bteward, he found, by 

 mere chance, a large quarto volume written upon vellum, 

 and consisting of 345| skins, of which 199 belonged to the 

 Old Testament and the remainder to the New. On every 

 page there were four narrow and regular columns written 

 in Greek uncials, and supposed to date back to a period 

 certainly as old as the Vatican Codex, which is attributed 



to the middle of the fourth century. Although mutilated, 

 Hi'' manuscript contains the New Testament complete. 



