ANNUAL MEETING. 83 



10. The Session has been fully equal to the remarkably 

 successful one of 1892, and the hnprovements carried out by 

 the Council have been fully approved. 



11. Publications. 



The twenty-sixth volume of the Transactions is now 

 about to be published, at an earlier date than last year. It 

 contains investigations in regard to several important sub- 

 jects, such as the further traces of the route of the Exodus; 

 some results of Babylonian research ; an examination of the 

 arguments in regard to the theory of Natural Selection ; an 

 inquiry into the " mortality caused by snake bite." (In regard 

 to this, the Institute's system of sending proof copies of papers 

 to be read to all members desiring the same, in whatever 

 country they might be, has resulted in a most important 

 outcome of the Institute's discussion of this question ; and 

 there is now a well-founded hope that what has been 

 not only a scourge but also a serious hindrance to the 

 spread of civilising influences in the East, will, ere long, no 

 more exist) ; an investigation, initiated by Dr. Hill, throw- 

 ing new light on the value of the arguments for human 

 responsibility; and a fresh investigation of the philosophical 

 basis of the Argument from Design : such are some of the 

 many subjects that enrich this volume. 



From time to time the Members of the Institute have 

 expressed a high sense of the value of the Transactions of 

 the Institute, inasmuch as they did not contain the opinion 

 of one person only on each sid)ject considered hut the opinions 

 of many competent authorities in various parts of the world. 

 That a system like this carried on by a competent body or 

 Society gives a value to the treatment of the several 

 subjects beyond that which any individual author could give, 

 is evident. 



12. Translations* 



For many years, translations from the Journal have been 

 made by Members, resident abroad, into various languages, 

 and have been published by them, some in pamphlet form, 

 others in various local serials ; such translations have already 

 appeared in several instances in the dialects of India ; in 

 French; Italian; Spanish; Portuguese, and other languages ^ 



* A collection of these is now being made. 



G 2 



