Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Oct. 1844. 



Meeting on Wednesday, the 18 th September, 1844. 



And all the Members and Secretary being present, proceeded as follows :— 

 1. Read for the information of the new Members, the report of July 184S, and 

 the following Memorandum of the state of the trust up to the present date. 



Memoranda for Committee on Sir A. Burnes' Drawings. 



1. The Committee was named in March 1841.— Journal, Vol. IX. p. 1130. 



2. It decided specially, with reference to selections from the drawings, that, as the 

 true object of the trust confided to the Society by Government was undoubtedly to 

 diffuse as much as possible the knowledge which Government had acquired at a hea- 

 vy expence, and also as matter of justice to the labours of the Envoy and Naturalist, 

 as well as of convenience to future naturalists and travellers in the valley of the 

 Indus and Affghanistan, that the whole of the drawings should be published ; except 

 perhaps some few very common ones, if any such were found. 



3. This was duly reported and confirmed at a general meeting, but it has not been 

 placed upon record. It is supposed to have been confirmed at the meeting of April 

 1841, See Journal, Vol. XI, p. 72. 



4. The preparation of the plates was continued, and with extreme care, till Mr. 

 Ballin's death, when difficulties gradually arose which have not yet been adjusted, 

 but shortly will be so, without, it is hoped, any loss to the Society's interests. 



5. Mr. Blyth arrived in September 18*1, taking charge of the Museum on the 

 6th September, (Vol. XI, p. 755,) and this undertaking amongst other matters was 

 then specially brought to his notice, and the drawings and finished lithographs 

 shewn him, their cost explained, &c. He was also shewn that the Acting Curator, 

 Mr. Piddington, had indexed the whole of Dr. Lord's notes in readiness for him to 

 commence on the letter-press. 



5. The notes of Dr. Lord were subsequently duly made over to him by the Secre- 

 tary ; and then, and on more than one subsequent occasion, when Mr. Blyth object- 

 ed to the drawings as inaccurate, and as deviating from already known types, and 

 proposed correcting them, it was distinctly explained to him that, in such case, the 

 Society would be guilty of a breach of trust, and even of a scientific fraud ; since it 

 would publish as the drawings made on Sir A. Burnes' Missions, pictures of something 

 which were not so : and that, as well known to him, the now anxious search of all 

 European naturalists is exactly to find the original drawings from which local faunae 

 (ornithaa) had been published, in order to correct these flourishes, and interferences 

 of artists and naturalists ; who, to make better pictures, and reduce the birds (princi- 

 pally) to their fancied types and systems, had in many instances created enormous 

 confusion, deprived the original observers of their due credit for active research and 

 accuracy, and had even made them pass, at least as careless persons, if not as im- 

 postors ; when, on the contrary, the mischief and imposture was the work of the 

 naturalist editors, publishers and artists. 



