88 



Dr. J. B. S. Jackson exhibited some ol* the parts of the Chim- 

 panzee presented by Dr. Savage. 



The skeleton of a Chimpanzee, prepared by Dr. Lewis, was 

 deposited in the Cabinet by him. 



Adjourned, 



T. BULFINCH, Rec. Sec. 



September 21, 1842. 



The President in the Chair. 



Dr. Gould read extracts from a letter lately received by 

 him from the Rev. Mr. Mason. American missionary at 

 Tavoy. Burmah. An abstract follows : 



Some knowledge of the natural sciences is important to mission- 

 aries, apart from the consideration of the communications that they 

 may write home. On some it devolves to write dictionaries of for- 

 eign languages ; but how can they give proper definitions of the 

 objects of nature, without being first made acquainted with their 

 proper names ? Some become translators of the Bible, and the im- 

 portance of this knowledge to them is apparent. The Burman 

 translation abounds with unnecessary barbarisms, for the want of a 

 little knowledge of botany in the translator. In Matt, xxiii. 23, 

 " mint, anise and cummin" are transferred, three barbarisms to- 

 gether, and all unnecessary. For dill and cummin are constantly 

 in market, with good native names, and a plant allied to mint is 

 common. Camphire, Sansonia inermis, is disposed of in like 

 manner : a shrub that may be seen in almost every native garden : 

 and its leaves are constantly used by the Burmans, as by the Egyp- 

 tians, to dye the finger nails red. So with the coriander, the seeds 

 of which are always to be had in market ; and so with the acacia, 

 trees found almost every where, in town and country ; and so in 

 other cases. The palm of the scriptures which is the date palm, Phce- 

 nix dactylifera, has been rendered by the Fan palm, Borassus fla- 

 belliformis, a very different tree, though there are well known 

 Burman names for each. Missionaries may, however, be excused 

 for falling into some errors on these subjects ; for the books writ- 

 ten on them are often indefinite and confused in their statements. 



