88 J. Cockbnrn — A Biorite plurj. [May & June, 



dyardni), i.e., * these two bolts of storehouses ' (or 'these two store-houses.') 

 They would seem to r-eter to the two houses, depicted above the 

 wiiting. 



Line 3, letter 11, may be ^ dam; there is a distinct dot on the 

 right of the top ; though this again may be merely one of the imper- 

 fections of the cast. Letter 14 is uncertain ; it looks like ^ I with its 

 left (smaller) limb crossed by a straight line. It can hardly be % /e, 

 as read by Mr. Smith ; the sti'oke for the vowel e would be attached to 

 the left side of the right ( longer) limb of the consonant I. It is just 

 possible, that there are really two letters ; viz.,^ ne, made very minutely, 

 aud T ra. There are several letters, in this inscriptions, made smaller 

 than the rest. The last letter ^ k in the first line, is another instance 

 of such a minute letter. These minute letters may have been origi- 

 nally omitted, and were afterwards inserted in the available space. 

 Other rather smaller letters are No. 2, W yh, in line 3, and below it 

 No. 2, ^ k, in line 4. The smallness of these appears to be due to the 

 hole between them. 



Line 4, letter 1, is in all probability ^ s (not ^ p). The left 

 (longer) limb and its tail are clearly traceable in the original, and can 

 be just distingiiislied in the facsimile plate. Letter 6 may be ^ am. 

 In the original there is a distinct dot to the right of ^ a, just discern- 

 ible in the facsimile. This would give the word amtiya {antiya). Letter 

 14 has a curious form ; the body of it is clearly '^ h, and the mark 

 attached to the top of it, is the usual mark of the vowel i, but in a re- 

 versed position ; moreover, there is a dot within the angle of this mark. 



The meeting resolved that a vote of thanks be given to Dr. Hoey 

 for the copper-plate. 



The Natural History Secretary exhibited a Diorite plug, for- 

 warded by Mr. J. Cockburn, Opium Department, aud read the follow- 

 ing note that accompanied the specimen : — 



" Some years ago, probably in 1880, I presented a specimen of a 

 polished celt of Deorite to the Indian Museum. The specimen was 

 from the Banda District, and is remarkable for having a perforation 

 through it which would at first sight lead to the inference that it 

 had been hefted in the modern way, that is, with the handle thx'ough 

 an eye in the head of the hatchet, instead of the head being put 

 through an eye in the handle, which was the usual pre-historic method. 



As there has been no known instance of a perforated celt having 

 been found in India, the specimen in question ought to be extremely 

 valuable, were it genuine. This unfortunately it is not, and the 



