PREFACE. 



The Asiatic Society, on the 7th March, 1832*, passed a reso- 

 lution, that the monthly journal hitherto published under the name 

 of " Gleanings in Science, 1 '' should be permitted to assume that 

 of Journal or the Asiatic Society, and to continue it as long 

 as the publication remains under the charge of one or both of the 

 Secretaries of the Society. This privilege has, as it was anticipated, 

 been the means of extending very considerably its circulation, while 

 it has given a character and authenticity to the work,by its connection 

 with an institution of established literary reputation, which no ano- 

 nymous magazine, however well conducted, could hope to command. 



The advantages of extended circulation have reacted to the 

 benefit of subscribers, by enabling the Editor to increase the 

 quantity of letter press from 400 to nearly 600 pages ; and yet so 

 constant has been the growing support of its contributors, that 

 the pages of the Journal have been devoted, with few excep- 

 tions, to the insertion of original communications. 



To many readers it would doubtless have been preferable 

 that the Journal should contain more copious extracts from Eng- 

 lish scientific periodicals, which are not procurable in the interior 

 of India ; but conceding that, as an organ of Indian scientific 

 intelligence, it must obviously derive its only merit among the ma- 

 ny similar periodicals of the present day, from its stores of oriental 

 literary and physical research, it will be generally acknowledged, 

 that the first object of the work should be to give publicity 

 to such oriental matter as the antiquarian, the linguist, the 

 traveller, and the naturalist may glean, in the ample field 

 open to their industry in this part of the world. While acting 



* The January number was not published until the middle of March.— 

 Since then exertions have been made to bring up arrears, and in future each 

 monthly number will appear with regularity on the 10th of the following 

 month; the insertion of the meteorological register rendering an earlier issue 

 impossible. 



