42 President's Address. [Feb. 



I may here express my sincere wish that the Government of India may 

 assist and that the machinery of the Government Telegraph Department 

 may he employed to take the necessary observations with a view to the 

 same being placed at the disposal of the Earth-current Committee, and the 

 result published in the Society's Journal. 



During the past year we have received the fourth volume of General 

 Cunningham's Eeports on the Archaeological Survey of India and it fully 

 maintains its character. 



We have also received the first part of the new Marsden, which is mainly 

 devoted to ancient weights and measures. It treats of ancient Indian 

 weights and the actual value of the Tola is very ably and fully discussed. 



Another book I have to mention is Babu- Rajendralala Mitra's first 

 Volume of the Antiquities of Orissa. In 1868, the Government of India, 

 at the suggestion of the Eoyal Society of Arts, assigned a large sum of 

 money for the purpose of obtaining casts of some of the more important 

 sculptures of ancient India. A part of this sum having been made over 

 to the Government of Bengal, a number of Modellers and Photographers 

 were sent to Orissa, and Babu Rajendralala Mitra accompanied them as 

 Archaeologist. The book therefore, is the result of the Babu's labours in 

 connexion with this mission. It treats of the Orissa, Jain, and Bengal 

 temples, and their architectural details, and contains a most interesting 

 chapter on the state of civilisation of the people of ancient Orissa, deducible 

 from their sculptures. The dress, ornaments, household furniture, car- 

 riages, arms, musical instruments, &c., of the ancient Uriahs are minutely 

 described, depicted, and compared with the sculptures on other architectur- 

 al remains, including those preserved in the Society's Museum. The book 

 closes-with a valuable dissertation on Buddhism, Sivaism and Vaishnavism, 

 with special reference to Orissa Architecture. The work contains no less 

 than thirty-six lithographs, and over fifty wood cuts, nearly all of which 

 have been executed by students of the School of Arts, and though I have 

 had only time to glance at the contents of the work, it having been issued 

 this very evening, I have no doubt that it forms the most important addi- 

 tion to our knowledge of ancient Orissa, and fully maintains the reputation 

 of its author. I sincerely hope that Babu Rajendralala Mitra will soon 

 bring out the second Volume, which is to contain a minute description of 

 the antiquities of Khandagiri, Bhuvaneswar, Puri, Kenarak, Cuttack, Alti, 

 Jajipur, and Balasore. 



It only remains for me to announce the conclusion of the business of 

 this Annual Meeting, and, thanking you for the support I have received for 

 the past year, I have to resign the chair to our newly elected President. 



The Meeting was then resolved into an ordinary Monthly General 

 Meeting. 



