518 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Aug. 



several political and commercial relations, was received from Lieut. T. 

 J. Newbold, A. D. C. to Brig. Gen. Wilson, C. B. 



Extract of a letter from Mr. V. Tregear was read, offering should the 

 Society wish it, to forward to Calcutta the Bhitari lath, containing the 

 important inscription which the Vice-President Dr. Mill is now engaged 

 in decyphering, as it is held in no reverence or consideration by the 

 people of the neighbourhood. 



Some conversation took place on Mr. Tregear's proposition, which his 

 letter explained would not have been made, if it involved the removal or destruc- 

 tion of an object of local interest or veneration. The pillar was at present 

 isolated, half buried in the ground, and in no way regarded by the people. By 

 transferring it to the museum it would be preserved from further injury, and an 

 inscription of great historical importance would be rendered permanently 

 accessible to the antiquarian. It was the concurrent opinion of the members 

 present, that if the removal could be effected at a moderate cost, Mr. Tregear's 

 obliging offer should be accepted. 



Adverting to the neglected condition of the pillar lying half buried in the 

 ground in the fort at Allahabad, and the great interest which the inscriptions 

 it contains had excited among orientalists in Europe, it was 



Moved by Sir J. P. Grant, seconded by Dr. Corbyn, that a respectful 

 representation should be made to the Government of India, on the expediency 

 of taking measures to preserve the ancient monument at Allahabad from further 

 decay, by setting it up, with a pedestal and railing, in such position within the 

 fort or elsewhere as may appear most appropriate. 



Physical Department. 



A letter was read from the Secretary to the Medical and Physical 

 Society of Bombay, forwarding a memoir by Dr. Lush, on the Fossils 

 recently discovered in the Gulf of Cambay. 



The fossils have been sent to Calcutta by the Chief Secretary Mr. Wathen, 

 and may be daily expected, when the paper will be printed. 



Mr. J. Trotter presented some specimens of the fossil bones recently 

 discovered at the Cape of Good Hope. 



Mr. Trotter's note informs the Society, that Mr. Pope, the modest discoverer 

 of this new fossil deposit, had kindly promised to collect a more numerous series 

 for the Society's museum, to be presented in the name of his lady, and that 

 they may be soon expected. The specimens now presented consist of vertebrae 

 and fragments of ribs of some large animal, which from their mutilated state 

 cannot be identified ; they are thoroughly fossilized and very hard. Mr. Pope 

 says they are found chiefly in the bed of the Ganka river, whither they have 

 been washed from the site of their inhumation in a " sandy and slate stone" 

 soil: one specimen in his possession was found imbedded in this hard slaty 

 matrix, from which it required a crowbar to extract it ; it was as one solid rock. 

 The vicinity of the district called the " Gouph" abounds with specimens ; the 

 country is stony and barren, and much intersected with dry ravines. It is 

 situated between the Zwarteberg and the Nieuwbergen, the central part of the 

 Cape Colony, Lat. 33° S. and 22°, 23° W. Long. 



