1836.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 835 



has, in the course of the present year, transferred to the Society the two branches 

 of the Oriental Library of Fort William, manuscripts and printed works, and 

 has liberally granted a monthly allowance for their preservation. Further dona- 

 tions of a valuable nature have been made by the French Government ; the 

 Lords of the Admiralty, the Commissioners of Parliamentary Records, (through 

 the Government,) and by Dr. Lumq.ua and other private individuals, in addition 

 to the customary tribute from the learned Societies of Europe and America. 



" The Museum has continued to increase rapidly ; but its means of doing justice 

 to objects presented has been limited for want of funds. The fossils particular- 

 ly require more cabinets and more space. Captain Cunningham's present of 

 Sarnath sculptures forms the chief object of notice in the antiquarian museum. 

 Depredations to an unfortunate extent have been lately made by some of the ser- 

 vants of the house, in articles ornamented in silver and gold ; which the Libra- 

 rian partly attributes to the opening of the rooms at so early an hour. Inquiry is 

 now pending at the police, and measures must be devised for better securing our 

 increasing property. 



" Some propositions have to be submitted for the publication of further oriental 

 works — but the first to which I would beg the Society's attention are the cata- 

 logues of the College manuscripts which have been prepared for the purpose by 

 the Pandit and Maulavi in their respective languages. To the former of these I 

 would recommend that Mr. Hodgson's revised catalogue of Buddhist works ex- 

 tant in Nipdl should be added. 



11 There are in the Society's portfolios a considerable number of original draw- 

 ings and inscriptions, (besides several bound MS. volumes of the Mackenzie - 

 drawings) which it would be extremely desirable to publish at the present time, 

 when an effort seems to be simultaneously making in India and in Europe 

 to read the history of ancient India through the medium of her monumental 

 records. The Ceylon portion would serve to illustrate the great work upon 

 which Mr. Turnour is engaged ; while those of the peninsula would form an 

 appropriate appendix to the review of the Mackenzie MSS. at Madras, which 

 the Society has recommended to be undertaken by Mr. Taylor. Were a single 

 competent native draughtsman added to the Government Lithographic Esta- 

 blishment, this object might be attained at a comparatively trifling cost : and I 

 think it would be worthy the Committee of Papers to suggest some measure of 

 the sort to the present Ruler of India, who has accepted, not as an idle honor, 

 the high post of Patron to our Society. 



" The last act of the past year has been the establishment of a Committee for 

 statistical inquiries, of the success of which it is yet too early to speak, but not 

 too early to augur well from the known zeal of those who have undertaken the 

 Herculean task." 



An application signed by all the students of the Sanscrit College, for 

 the Society to print the Magh kdvya (of which the edition published by 

 Mr. Colebrooke some years ago is now extinct) was referred to the 

 Committee of Papers. 



The same measure was taken regarding an application from Madhu- 

 su'dana Gcpta pandit, in favor of printing the Sanscrit translation of 

 Hooper's Vade Mecum, suspended by the Education Committee. 



Fifty copies of the Susruta (2 vols.) were voted to Madhusu dana for 

 his trouble in correcting the proofs of that work. 



