December 27, 1917] 



NATURE 



IZZ 



THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, 

 "T^HE publications of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 

 ■■■ are fully abreast of those of the learned societies 

 of the European world. To the Indian they are remi- 

 niscent of a glorious past, and give a forecast of the 

 Asiatic world that is advancing by leaps and bounds 

 into the domains of commerce, industry, art, and 

 science. They breathe to-day not only of the society's 

 great founder, Sir William Jones, but of a new Asiatic 

 life. In the founder's first presidential address (de- 

 livered in Calcutta in 1784) we read: "Whether you 

 will enrol, as members, any number of learned natives, 

 you will hereafter decide." It is a somewhat curious 

 paradox on these words that the present membership 

 is not only very largely "learned natives," but that 

 many of the recent articles of conspicuous merit are 

 from the pens of Asiatic writers. Indians are, in fact, 

 pressing forward in every department of thought and 

 research, and are practically clamouring to write the 

 too long neglected history of their country. There 

 are eighty-seven important articles in the Journals 

 (placed in our hands), and of these forty-seven 

 are written by native gentlemen. In this con- 

 nection it may be mentioned that the "Centenary 

 Review" of the society (published in 1885) was written 

 ^in three separate chapters, the authors of which were 

 ^o native gentlemen and a German. But to revert 

 the founder, Sir William was no lover of systematic 

 latural history. He lived in Sanskrit lore, and could 

 see no merit in, or necessity for, systematic studies. 

 The direction was thereby given for the future life of 

 the society, and to-day were one to seek out themes 

 of adverse criticism the most obvious would be that 

 the volumes on our table denote a disproportionate 

 treatment of zoology and botany as compared with 

 philology, ethnography, mythology, anthropology, 

 ■numismatolog)', archaeology, and history, each no 

 doubt important, but not more so than either zoology 

 or botany, to the new life of India. 



The first botanical paper published bv the society 

 appeared in 1785, and was on the mahua tree {Bassia 

 latifolia). We are there not only given a botanical 

 description and an instructive plate, but a full account 

 of the economic uses of that most valuable tree, which 

 to-day is of exceptional interest as a source of food, 

 oil, and spirits. In vols, iii., iv., and v. of the 

 Memoirs, now before us, there is not a single 

 botanical article. The corresponding Journals contain 

 remarkably few botanical papers, and those that are 

 given are short and deal as a rule with structural 

 adaptations to environment or to fertilisation. "Graft- 

 ing the Mango Inflorescence," by Dr. W. Burns and 

 Mr. H. Pravag, is, however, interesting and sugges- 

 tive. To what may be called the general rule there 

 are two exceptions— " The Materials for a Flora of the 

 Malayan Peninsula " and a " Synopsis of 'the Dio- 

 scoreas of the Old World." The former, started by 

 the late Sir George King, has now run into its fourth 

 volume, and is being ably continued bv Mr. J. Sykes 

 Gamble, late of the Indian Forest Department. The 

 title of that great work is far too humble, since it is 

 literally an exhaustive flora of the Malayan Peninsula, 

 and it very possibly has suffered considerably by its 

 production intermittently as an appendage' to the 

 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. The second 

 paper is by Sir David Prain and Mr. I. H. Burkill, 

 and deals with an exceedingly difficult genus of plants, 

 many of the species of which are of considerable 

 economic value. 



Zoology has in India always taken a more favoured 

 position, a circumstance possibly due to the closer 

 association of the Indian Museum, than the distant 

 Botanic Gardens, with the home of the Asiatic Society. 

 Dr. Annandale has communicated numerous papers 



NO. 2513, VOL. 100] 



(some written for him by experts) on the " Biology of 

 the Lake of Tiberias," as also "The Distribution and 

 Origin of the Fauna of the Jordan System." Lt.- 

 Col. J. Manners-Smith has furnished useful informa- 

 tion regarding the Shous, or big-horned deer of Tibet, 

 Mr. F. C. Gravely has contributed a paper on the 

 "Evolution and Distribution of the Indian Spiders 

 belonging to the Sub-family Aviculariinse." Mr. J. 

 Hornell gives an excellent account of the "Pearl 

 Fishery in Palk Bay." This would appear to be a 

 new bed hitherto unsuspected, which, but for the 

 war, would have given greater results than have 

 been attained. Mr. Hornell records it as his opinion 

 that, in the future, cultural operations directed to the 

 inducement of pearls in a comparatively limited num- 

 ber of oysters, kept in captivity, must supersede 

 production in natural beds. Capt. R. B. Seymour 

 Sewell, surgeon-naturalist of the Investigator, con- 

 tributes a valuable report on the results of his bio- 

 logical investigations. Dr N. Annandale, Mr. J. 

 Coggin Brown, and Mr. F. H. Gravely have furnished 

 the results of their joint Investigations of " The Lime- 

 stone Caves of Burma and the Malay." Mr. Gravely 

 further contributes a paper on "The Evolution and 

 Distribution of certain Indo-Australian Passlid' Coleo- 

 ptera." 



Mr. R. D. Banerji, of the Indian Museum, under 

 the title of "The Palas of Bengal," gives a history of 

 Bengal and Bihar from a.d. 800 to 1200. Many ob- 

 scure points regarding the Pala kings have, through 

 Mr. Banerji's researches, been cleared up, while the 

 photographs he furnishes of inscriptions and colophons 

 should facilitate verification. In another paper Mr. 

 Banerji analyses the evidence and conclusions of the 

 four inscriptions regarding the " Laksmanasena Era"; 

 and again discusses the "Edilpur Grant of Kesava- 

 sena," originally translated by Prinsep in 1838; and 

 in still a further paper deals with the "Four Forged 

 Grants from Farldpur." Rai Monmohan Chakravarti 

 Bahadur gives a learned and exhaustive "Contribution 

 j to the History of Smrti in Bengal and Mithila." To 

 I the historical student the works translated by Mr. 

 Chakravarti are of great importance. They furnish a 

 mass of information bearing on the social and re- 

 ligious life of the people of Bengal in former times. 

 In another contribution Mr. Chakravarti deals with 

 "The History of Mithila," during the pre-Mughal 

 period, and this versatile writer next discusses the 

 geography of Orissa in the sixteenth century, and in 

 still another paper exhibits "The Genuineness of the 

 Eighth Canto of the Poem of Kumara-Sambhavam," 

 by Kalidasa. 



Mr. Nundolal Dey furnishes an account of the 

 ancient Anga, or district, of Bhagalpur, one of the 

 most ancient countries of northern India. 



Dr. L. P. Tessitori gives "A Progress Report on the 

 Preliminary Work done during the Year 1915 in con. 

 nection with the Proposed Bardic and Historical Sur- 

 vey of Rayputanam." In the Memoirs the Rev. H. 

 Hosten. S.J.. narrates his discovery in Calcutta of the 

 original MS. of "Father A. Monserrate's ' Mongol icee 

 I^gationis Commentarius ' "—in other words, Mon- 

 serrate's account of the first Jesuit mission to the 

 Emperor Akbar, in 1580-83. After an interesting dis- 

 cussion of the history and movement of the MS., 

 Father Hosten reproduces the Latin text and gives, in 

 an aopendix, useful explanatorv notes. He further 

 contributes to the Journals, among others, three 

 papers: — (i) "The Twelve Bhuiyas or Landlords of 

 Bengal"; (2) " Fr. Jerome Xavier's Persian 'Lives of 

 the Apostles'"; and (3) "Notes on Father Monser- 

 rate's ' Mongolicae Legationis Commentarius.'" There 

 are numerous papers on anthropology and ethnology; 

 one of special interest deals with the Abors and 



