76 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Jan. 



X. — Proceedings of > the Asiatic Society. 



Wednesday Evening, the 1st February, 1837. 



The Rev. Dr. Mill, Vice-President, in the chair. 



Mr. J. Cuhnin, Captain F. Jenkins, Mr. George Hill, and Mr. Rich- 

 ard Walker, Captain Edward Sanders, Babus Ra/mna'th Tagore and 

 Prasannakumar Tagore, proposed at the last meeting, were ballotted 

 for, and duly elected Members of the Asiatic Society. 



Mr. J. Mill, and Mr. W. Cracroft, were proposed by Mr. J. Prinsep, 

 seconded by Dr. Mill. 



Mr. P. A. Lair, proposed at the last meeting, was, upon the favorable 

 report of the Committee of Papers, elected an Honorary Member of the 

 Society. 



The following letter from Sir Alexander Johnston, Chairman of the 

 Committee of Correspondence, Royal Asiatic Society, was read. 



Royal Asiatic Society, Grafton Street, Bond Street, June, 1836. 

 My Lords and Gentlemen, 



The vast extent, fertility, and populousness of our Indian possessions, are 

 known, in a general way, to all the world. A glance, indeed, at the map will shew 

 that their extremes of latitude may, without exaggeration, be indicated by the 

 distance from Gibraltar to the farthest point of Scotland ; and that the measure 

 of their extent, from west to east, will be nearly found in a line drawn from the 

 Bay of Biscay to the Black Sea. Lying between the 5th and 31st degree of north 

 latitude, with almost every conceivable variety of position and exposure, they 

 present a range of soil and climate greatly exceeding that which is to be found 

 within the bounds of Europe. They embrace, in truth, the utmost limits of 

 vegetable life, from the burning heat of the desert to the point of perpetual 

 congelation : presenting, in one quarter, the loftiest mountains in the world ; and, 

 in another, vast alluvial plains, intersected by the natui-al channels of many 

 noble rivers, with a corresponding variety of productions belonging both to 

 tropical and northern regions. Not less than eighty millions of people are sub- 

 ject to the dominion of England : already they produce (though with imperfect 

 skill) most of the articles which form the great staples of the import trade of 

 this country, as materials of its manufacture, or as the objects of comfort and 

 luxury to the great body of its inhabitants, of which cotton, silk, indigo, sugar, 

 coffee, and tobacco, may be mentioned as pre-eminent ; and they offer an assur- 

 ed prospect of an almost boundless market for the produce of English manufac- 

 turing skill, if the capabilities of their country be drawn forth, and their indus- 

 try be duly instructed, directed, and fostered. 



But though these general truths be readily acknowledged, their practical 

 application is very imperfectly understood. Few men in England really know 

 what India does or can produce, with sufficient precision, at least, to justify 

 commercial speculation. Few in India know what England requires ; and none 

 of the lights of modern science having been applied to the agriculture of the 

 former country, its productive powers have, as yet, been very imperfectly deve- 

 loped. 



Believing that the interests of both countries may be very importantly pro- 

 moted by an interchange of knowledge, and especially by communicating to 

 India the information and stimulus which are alone wanting to the full deve- 

 lopment of its vast resources, it has been resolved by the Royal Asiatic Society, 

 to constitute a distinct Section, for the following, and other similar purposes ; 

 provided the necessary funds can be raised for giving adequate efifect to the 

 design. 



1st. The examination of the natural and agricultural products of India, 

 available for the purposes of commerce and art. 



