REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 91 



meeting was opened in the name of the King by the minister of public instruction. The 

 King had offered two prizes (by special decree of January G, 1886), one for a work on 

 the History of the Semitic Languages, and the other on the Civilization of the Arab 

 Muhammed. No works of European or American Orientalists were submitted to the 

 special committee appointed for the purpose of reporting the recommendation for the 

 award of the prizes. But six Arabic works on the second-named subject by Oriental 

 authors had been sent to the committee, and one of tliese Oriental scholars, Mahmud 

 Shookree el-Aloasee of Baghdad, though not coming up fully to the requirements, 

 was considered worthy of King Oscar's gold medal for art aud science, with the rib- 

 bon of the order of Wasa. 



Quite a number of native scholars from the East were present and took an active 

 part in the proceedings. 



Abdallah Fikri Pasha spoke on the Divan of Hasan Ibn Thabit. 



Sheikh Hamza Fathallah : On the right of women in the Islam. 



Mahmud Omar: On Arabic proverbs in Egypt. 



Emin Bey Fikri : Against those who prefer modern Arabic to the classical language. 



These three papers were in Arabic, the following native Oriental scholars spoke in 

 English : 



Jivanji Jamshedji Modi: On the position of the Haoma in the Avesta of the Parsecs. 



In his opening address the secretary-general called attention to this special feature 

 of the congress, and expressed the hope that this active participation on the part of 

 native Oriental scholars would be the starting point of a new era for the civilization 

 of the East. 



A great many of the most distinguished Orientalists from all parts of the globe were 

 present, among them may be mentioned : Brugsch, Biihler, Chwolson, Dillmann, 

 Euting, Giusburg, de Goeje, Donner, Guberuatis, Guidi, Haldvy, Kern, Kremer, 

 Mehren, Max Miiller, Oppert, Reinisch, de Rosny, Rost, Sayce, Schefer, Schlegel, 

 J. Schmidt, Spiegel, Weber. 



Over a hundred papers of great value were read : 



Twenty-four in the Semitic section la (Arabic and Islam). 



Twenty-six in T section I& (cuneiform research, etc). 



Twenty-two in section II (Aryan). 



Nineteen in section III (Egyptian, etc.). 



The following papers were read by American Orientalists: 



a. Prof. Paul Haupt, The Death of Sargon II. 



b. Prof. Henry Hyvernat, the paheographical introduction to his Acts of the 

 Martyrs in Egypt. 



c Chas. G. Leland: The Pidjin (Chinese-English) dialect and its relation to 

 other mixed dialects, followed by a communication on the dissidence of the Chi- 

 nese philosophers concerning the question of human nature. 



The scientific character of the meeting, however, was somewhat impaired by the 

 almost excessive hospitality of the Scandinavian hosts, and especially by the number 

 of tourists who attracted by the programme attended. It looked occasionally as 

 though the Congress were rather a succession of festivities than a serious gathering 

 of scholars for scientific purposes. It was especially regretted that there was hardly 

 any time for private intercourse between individual fellow-workers. Since the meet- 

 ing of the Congress some feeling has developed against so great a display of hospi- 

 tality in the future. 



Where the next International Congress of Orientalists is to meet has not yet been 

 determined. 



At the general meeting of all the sections held at Stockholm on Angust G, under 

 the presidency of King Oscar, it was suggested by the delegate of the Smithsonian 

 Institution (after a special meeting of all the American orientalists present, with the 



