NO. 61. — 1908.] ANNUAL REPORT. 



45 



Life Members. 



The following gentlemen have become Life Members : — 



H. White, CCS. 



F. J. de Mel, M.A., LL.B. 



Two Members have resigned, viz., Messrs. F. W. Bois and 

 E. E. Green. 



The Council record with regret the death of the following 

 Members : — J. H. Ilangakoon, Mudaliyar, W. S. de Suva, C 

 Tiru-Navuk-Arasu, Advocate. 



The Society has now on its roll 253 Members, Of these, 29 are 

 Life Members and 10 Honorary Members. 



While the number of new Members is encouraging, the Council 

 feel that the Society deserves more extensive support from the 

 Members of the Civil and Public Services of the Colony. The 

 work of these officers is of such a character that it can hardly fail 

 to derive benefit from the study of such subjects as it is the object 

 of the Society to investigate. 



Journals. 



One Number of the Journal, Vol. XIX., No. 57, was published 

 during the year. It contains, in addition to the Proceedings of 

 the Council and General Meetings, two Papers : — 



(1) "The Coconut Palm in Ceylon: Beginning, Rise, and 



Progress of its Cultivation, " by the Hon. Mr. J. 

 Ferguson, C.M.G. 



(2) Some survivals in Sinhalese Art," by Dr. A. K. Coomara- 



swamy. 



The Council again thank Mr. H. C. Cottle, the Government 

 Printer, and his Staff for the care bestowed on the printing of the 

 Society's publications. 



Other Publications. 



" The History of Ceylon, from the earliest times to 1600 a.d., 

 as related by Joao de Barros and Diogo de Couto,' ' has been under- 

 taken for the Society by Mr. Donald Ferguson. The slip proofs are 

 well in hand, and it is hoped that this valuable publication will be 

 issued in 1908. It will be available for purchase by the general 

 public. 



Your Council note with satisfaction that the following work, 

 which, though not a publication of the Society, is important on 

 its bearing on early Ceylon History, has been published in the 

 Government Press, viz., " The Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa, and 

 their Historical Development in Ceylon," by Professor W. Geiger, 

 translated by E. M. Coomaraswamy. 



Library. 



The additions to the Library including parts of Periodicals, 

 numbered 305. 



The Library is indebted for donations to : — The Secretary to 

 the Government of India; Mr. C. A. Sherring; Dr. A. Caroll, 

 M. A. ; the Honourable the Colonial Secretary ; the Government 



