128 Dr. Hocrnle on the 1th International Congress of Orientalists. [April, 



by acclamation. Wc trust that when the formal proposal reaches the 

 Government of India in dne course from the authorities of the Con- 

 gress, it may be deemed worthy of consideration. 



" The session for this day concluded with the reading of a French 

 poem by M. Bellin, in honour of the Congress, and with a paper by 

 Herr L. de Milloue on the Vrisabha-Myth. 



11 In the afternoon the members of the Congress were received at the 

 Rathhaus by the City of Vienna, and were shown over the magnificent 

 building, with its unique collection of arms. In the evening we attended 

 a reception held by their Imperial and Royal Highnesses the Archduke 

 (the Protector of the Congress) and Archduchess Rainer. We had the 

 honour of being presented to both as delegates of the Government of 

 India. 



" On Thursday, the 30th September, a great deal of solid work was 

 got through. 



" The session opened with a communication from Captain Temple 

 regarding the value of the well-known Panjabi epic by Waris Shah 

 entitled Hira Ranjha. No Panjabi is considered to know his own lan- 

 guage till he has read this work. A correct printed text is urgently 

 required, and the speaker could lay his hands upon some very old 

 manuscripts of the poem. 



" He was followed by M. J. M. Grandjean on the origin of the 

 toneless explosive sounds in the Indo- Germanic speeches. 



" Professor R. von Roth, our President, spoke with all the weight 

 of his great authority on the exegesis of the Veda, and the effect of 

 euphony on certain case inflexions. In the discussion which followed, 

 the speakers were Professors G. Biihler, A. Weber, and A. Ludwig. 



" Professor H. Schuchardt then handed in a new work by Professor 

 Ascoli of Milan, entitled ' Due recenti lettere glottologiche e una poscritta 

 nuova.' At the same time he communicated Professor Ascoli's regret 

 that he had been unable to complete the commission made to him and 

 Professor Joh. Schmidt, by the Berlin Congress of 1880 on the subject 

 of a system of transcription. 



" Professor Biihler then presented to the section some photographs 

 forwarded from India by Dr. Leitner, and a specimen from Mr. Fleet's 

 third volume of the ' Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum,' and this led on 

 to the next subject, broached by Captain Temple, who brought to the 

 notice of the section that the Government of India had abolished the 

 post of Epigraphist to the Government of India. A keen discussion 

 followed in which Professors Weber, Biihler, Kielhorn and Bendall took 

 the principal part, and in which it was agreed that this action of the 

 Indian Government was a real loss to science, and that it was most 



