260 S. E. Peal— 0;z Pot-lioles. [Dec. 



did nothing of the kind. They arranged their bricks in the order they 

 thought best, and that was decidedly inferior. They knew the use of surki 

 and chunam cement, and used it extensively in forming mouldings and 

 images, and on their roofs and copings, and had they seen it used by the 

 Persians or Greeks in the construction of the arch, they would have 

 followed the example ; but they did not, depending entirely on the strength 

 acquired by the shape of the bricks, and the lateral pressure of their vous- 

 soirs. One important element in an arch was the key-stone. In the for- 

 eign models this is placed in the centre of the arch ; but the Hindu or 

 Buddhist builders had apparently never seen this arrangement, and, follow- 

 ing their own idea, placed it on a side of the centre, wherever the ex- 

 egencies of their mode of building rendered it most convenient. Taking 

 these facts into consideration Dr. Mitra was disposed to maintain the opi- 

 nion which he had expressed on a former occasion that the arches were both 

 in conception and execution purely Indian. 



Mr. H. F. Blanford said that the question of the arch in the Budh 

 Gaya temple had been very fully discussed at more than one meeting of the 

 Society about 1864, and his recollection was, that it was generally agreed 

 by competent judges, that the apparent arch in question was not structur- 

 ally an arch at all : besides which, it was of much later date than the body 

 of the building. These conclusions did not seem to be invalidated by Dr. 

 Bajendralala Mitra's present description. 



The President said : 



The Society is indebted to Dr. Eajendralal for his luminous statement 

 as to the arches at Budh Gaya. Whatever may be their actual age, he has 

 at least made it clear that they are an addition to the building long subse- 

 quent to the date of the original structure. 



Nor can they be, as he has demonstrated, termed true arches. It 

 seems to me very clear that the idea which they exemplify is derived from 

 the wells built of bricks forming a segment of a complete arch, such as are 

 found at any Hindu ruins of an early date, such a wall round on its side 

 would give an example of a double arch just like those of the Gaya temple. 

 In short, the Gaya arches may be described not as arches, but as structures 

 showing progress towards the discovery of the true arch. 



Mr. H. F. Blanford read extracts from three letters from Mr. S. E. 

 Peal, of Sapakati in Assam, relative to pot-holes, to the geological structure 

 of Goalpara Hill, and to Mr. Peal's observations on the movements of the 

 clouds in Upper Assam. The first passage was written with reference 

 to the discussion of Dr. Feistmantel's paper on 'pot-holes,' which took 

 place at the meetings of the Society in March and June. Mr. Peal 

 writes, — " I see Dr. Feistmantel has been treating us to a disserta- 



