Annual Report. [February, 1910. 



matter of Sea-fishing 



paper has been 



published as a pamphlet. Major Wall's valuable Monograph 

 of the Sea Snakes has been issued as Memoir No. 8 of the 2nd 

 volume : it is very completely illustrated. 



Of botanic papers there are eight to mention. Babu Xiba- 

 ran Chandra Bhattacharjee called attention to the way in 

 which Marsilia quadrifolia only fruits when the water in which 

 it has been growing has receded from it, and left it dry. Mr. 



Martin 



1 



inc), is of importance. His object being to breed a race of 

 cotton suitable for cultivation at Cawnpur, with the good lint 

 of the slow maturing cottons, but early, he has been observing 

 the characters in bud development which lead to early or late 

 maturity, in order to recognise such as combine with the desir- 

 able quantities in the lint, and how to set to work to breed out 

 what is not required. Mr. E. P. Stebbing has sent to the Society 

 his observations on the Loranthiis parasite of the Moru and Ban oaks 

 (Quercus dilatata , Lindl., and Quercas incana , Roxb.) : he shows 

 how destructive the parasite is to these oaks in the neighbourhood 

 of Naini Tal and in Kumaon: the parasite's seeds are distri- 

 buted by birds; they affect more easily a lodgment if the 

 branches of the oaks are moss-covered, and finally with the aid 

 of boring beetles kill the limbs of the trees. In part 4 of vol. 

 lxxiv, Sir George King's Materials for a Flora of the Malayan 

 Peninsula has been continued. The part contains accounts of 

 the orders Gesneraceae by Mr. H. N. Ridley, and Verbenaceae 

 by Mr. J. Sykes Gamble: with the index, it runs to 180 pages. 

 Mr. Burkill has diagnosed two varieties of the lemon oil grass — 

 Cymbopogon Martini. Prof. P. Briihl has contributed a long 

 and useful paper on Recent plant immigrants into Bengal : 234 

 species are named by him : their origin discussed, and the causes 

 of these introduction. America has supplied 54*7% of these 

 immigrants. The origin of two Indian dri 

 Mishmi Tita have been discussed by Mr. Burkill. 



gs Astukhudus 



Anthropology, etc. 



Only two papers on anthropological subjects have been 

 published during the year, both in the Journal. Both deal, 

 directly or indirectly, with a subject of great interest to which 

 comparatively little attention has been paid, viz., the exact 

 meaning to be attached to the words translated in English as 

 "soul" by writers on the comparative religion of primitive 

 peoples. The titles of the two papers are: — 1. Kathi Kashain. 

 The "Soul- departure" Feast as practised by the Tangkul 

 Nagas, Manipur, Assam : by the Rev. Wm. Pettigrew. 2. The 

 Theory of Souls among the Malays of the Malay Peninsula : 

 by N. Annandale, D.Sc. 



