ANNUAL REPORT 



of the 



Straits Branch, Royal Asiatic Society 

 for 1916. 



On November the 4th the Society entered upon its fortieth 

 year, having the name of one founder and of two who joined in the 

 first year, still on the Member list, — the Eight Eev. Bishop Hose, 

 the Hon. Datoh Mahomed bin Mahbob of Johore, and the Ven. 

 Archdeacon J. Perham of Chard, Somerset. The rules under which 

 the Society works have been little altered since they were passed 

 at the general meeting of January 21st, 1878. On July 15th of 

 the same year, the Society having 142 members, issued its first 

 Journal and in December a second, making the year's output 166 

 pages. The Society stands, this day, with 297 names on the mem- 

 ber list. 



Tiie number of pages in the Journal of the year under review 

 was 358. The average for the thirty-nine completed years of 

 publishing has been 305. 



The Society in the first year of its existence met frequently 

 for the reading of papers: but it was found impossible to main- 

 tain these meetings: and when the practice fell into disuse, it 

 became necessary to vest in the Council powers which councils of 

 Societies rarely possess, asking the members to meet but once a 

 year to regulate their affairs, by the election of a new council and 

 by the ratifying of the proceedings of the retiring body. The 

 arrangement tends to create an aloofness on the part of tbe mem- 

 bers which the Council has been most anxious to dispel: and with 

 that intention in 1915 two steps were taken: in the first place an 

 olfer was gratefully accepted from a member, Mrs. Legrew Watkins, 

 that at the annual meeting she would exhibit her collection of ob- 

 jects used by the Ainus of Japan; and in the second place it was 

 arranged that the Journal should appear oftener, if possible, than 

 twice a year. The attendance at the last annual meeting was grati- 

 fying and Mrs. Legrew Watkins' exhibit most interesting. The 

 Journal, which had appeared thrice in 1915, has appeared again 

 thrice in 1916. 



The Journal is now paged into an annual volume, and has been 

 issued complete for 1916, with title page and index. It contained 

 xxx + 328 pages, with six plates and two line blocks in the text. Its 

 cost to the Society was $1,217.66 or 58% of the Society's income. 



