ed, within the geographical limits of Asia, to whatever is performed by man or produced by nature.” "The annual Report, to which you have just listened, has informed you of much of what has been done, and of the condition of the Society at the close of the past year. It betokens activity and onward movement; it indicates that large and important questions have been dealt with by the Society, not only in the Department of oriental languages, in which it has always held so high a place, under the direction of the eminent native and European philologists who have contributed so largely to the 'Bibliotheca Indica,' but also in zoology, archæology, meteorology and other departments of natural science, in which enquiry has been pushed, and progress made. "Questions of the day, most occupying men's minds, -those connected with the origin of our species,-the history, affinities and relations of the infinite number of varieties of the human race, whether illustrated by physical conformation or linguistic peculiarities, have been prominently brought before the Society, for investigation; and are perhaps, at your hands, to receive the solution of some of the most interesting problems connected with the enquiry. "The Natural History of the Fauna and Flora of the country, its mineral and other telluric treasures, already much investigated by many able men, yet present ample field for research and discovery. "A noble Botanic Garden and herbarium, although unconnected with the Society, (which we may hope to see supplemented by a section of Economic Botany, in the Museum) already represent the treasures of this department of the organized kingdoms of nature. In Geology and Palæontology, a museum and records worthy of the distinguished Geologists who are at the head of that Department of Science in India, are accessible to the scientific world, and are available to you either for study or comparison, "For those who are interested in numismatic and archæological relics, collections exist in the Society's Museum, of no mean repute; and it is with pleasure that I note the commencement of a Department of Social Science under the auspices of a talented and energetic member of our Society, which is thus indirectly connected with the Asiatic Society. I have also the gratification of recording the initiation of a movement among several members of the Society and others, for establishing that most useful and instructive of all places of public recreation, a Zoological garden. This is a subject which I trust will receive public support and the countenance of the Society, and will soon be reckoned among the accomplished facts of Calcutta. "It is a subject of congratulation in the interests of natural science, that the Society has many energetic collectors, enquirers and contributors scattered over the length and breadth of the land; all working, and zealous for its well-doing. "The geological, topographical, geometrical and archæological surveys are steadily progressing, and accumulating funds of information of the most important nature, under the eminent men who direct their operations, and to whom we may naturally look for-and from whom indeed we have always received-the most valuable contributions to our present stock of knowledge. With such means at our disposal,—with such great opportunities,-with a Government well disposed towards the pursuit of science, and some of whose members are on our roll,-with an able staff and select committees to work each department of scientific enquiry, surely we ought not to fail in contributing that quota of knowledge to the great general stock, which is naturally looked for, and may be expected from us by kindred societies in Europe. "You will have observed that it has not been altogether progress during the past year. Financially the Society has been and is embarassed, but we may reasonably hope that the increasing number of the members will obviate for the future this source of trouble, and that the many long outstanding arrears will be speedily liquidated. We have suffered too by the inscrutable hand of death. You have heard an obituary notice of several eminent and staunch supporters of the Society, among whom I regret to say that of Sir G. Everest ought to have appeared. They were good and true men, earnest enquirers into those questions which engage our Society and the scientific world generally; and though it is perhaps neither the time nor place to allude further to what they have done, or to express our regret for their loss, yet I cannot refrain from adding one tribute of regret to that which has lately engaged the sympathies of men of every denomination, for the untimely loss of a good man, cut off in his prime in the midst of a noble work, respected and beloved alike by learned and unlearned, by members of all sects, and every religious denomination and creed. "But there is business of importance still before the meeting, and I ought not to detain you longer. I again thank you for the honour you have done me, and express a hope that the year to come may be even more prosperous than that just passed away." The meeting then resolved itself into an ordinary monthly meeting. 1. From Baboo Bishwambhar Nath Mookerjee; a pair of sandals made of patha leaves, a kind of plant abundant in Peshawar. 2. From C. J. Crawford, Esq., through Mr. Grote; a steel print portrait of Dr. Latham. 3. From the Deputy Commissioner of the Upper Godavery district, two human skulls. 4. From the Rev. G. U. Pope, through the Rev. C. H. A. Dall; five Tamil printed works, by the Rev. G. U. Pope. 5. From Dr. J. Fayrer; a spear of a Naga chief, and a bow and arrows from the Andaman Islands. The following letter from W. Masters, Esq., on the November fall of meteors, was read : "I respond to the spirit of your last letter by forwarding an account of meteors that fell on the 14th instant, for record in the Proceedings of your Society. I have sent a popular account of them to the "Englishman" for general information: to this I shall add a few particulars which I did not consider of sufficient interest to insert in the original. "My attention was first drawn to these visitors to our sphere, in 1833 (I believe), when, a little before sunrise, while seated in an upper verandah in Calcutta and looking south, I observed white, pearly, flakey, I might almost say, tiny spiritual things of the shape. of Rupert drops falling, as I fancied, perpendicularly down, about a yard or two apart, and about 15 succeeding each other in two or three minutes within the range of direct vision. Day followed too quickly for this exhibition to last long. "Since that time I had been watching their recurrence without success; and was on the look out for them from the 9th to the 13th instant, when only a few stragglers presented themselves. Up to 11 P. M. of the 13th, there was no sign of meteors; but at half-past 4 A. M. of the 14th instant, they were in great abundance over Kishnaghur. I cannot say at what hour they first began to fall, although I have made inquiries of watchmen and others. I looked out about half past four or a quarter to five, and observed them shooting along the sky divergingly and very rapidly, from some part of the head of Leo major; and by their manner of comporting themselves, was immediately convinced that we had come upon the great shoal of November. I was most interested in detecting, if possible, the precise point of divergence; and it soon became evident that, contrary to received opinion, y Leonis was not the starting point. After counting fifty in about five minutes, I woke up five others to witness the phenomenon and give aid in watching and counting. "We arranged ourselves looking in different directions, and as each saw a meteor, there was a distinct call of the next number 51, 52, 53 &c.; the stars shooting out sometimes faster than they could be counted some were lost on this account; some, owing to the excitement of my young coadjutors; and many, while I was waking up aid. Yet, in less than half an hour, we counted four hundred and twenty; had we been all together during the half hour, we should certainly have counted more than five hundred. "The velocity of these meteors was exceedingly great; there was no lagging or hesitation in their course, as is frequently the case with ordinary meteors: but they darted like rockets from an unseen centre, sometimes three or four in one direction nearly, slightly diverging, leaving long and short trains with much divergence horizonwards and narrow convergence upwards. I shall call these a for reference in the sequel. Others shot in different directions, east, west, north, and south, and intermediate points were filled up in rapid succession; not one appeared to fall perpendicularly to the earth; all described glowing arcs in the sky, varying from 20° to 60°; a few points of light excepted, which described scarcely 3° or 4°. "Their decided and long courses, all seeking the horizon directly, and their persistent trains of the light, which looked like meridians on a globe, strongly and unmistakably pointed to a spot in the head of Leo major, then some degrees eastward of the zenith, as their radiating point. "The meteors did not actually start into view at one point; many commenced their courses about 30° or 40° from the supposed point of divergence, seeking the different points of the horizon, while the upper portions of their trains pointed to the same spot in the sky. These were generally large and bright, and illumined the trees and walls like a flash of lightning from a thunder cloud near the horizon; others, comparatively small, darted or first shewed themselves only a few degrees from the radiating centre, sometimes three at once, leaving their trains for leisurely tracing backwards; those with long trains and long courses, generally burst or blazed out about 20° or 30° from the horizon; some within 20° of it. No sound of any kind was heard the light of these meteors, when they blazed out, was reddish: the trains left behind were generally broad, spreading about half a degree, glowing at first like the fresh mark of phosphorus on a wall, then quickly becoming pale like the tail of a comet, or like the mingling of muriatic acid gas and ammonia, and lasting from half a minute to one minute and a half. "One took me quite by surprise; it blazed out like a star of the 2nd or 3rd magnitude between μ and e of Leo major, as bright as e but not of the some silveryness or intensity, and gradually faded away in the same spot, without any visible linear course whatever : it suggested the idea of a meteor coming straight to the eye. "I looked out again at 6 A. M. before the sun rose, and saw a streak of white light, like a Rupert's drop with a long thread behind, shoot down from the direction of Leo major, to Capella Alajoth in the north west, the only star then visible. It appeared to be close at hand, and looked exactly like those of 1833, with the exception of the long thread. About three or four of the meteors enumerated above did not shoot from the diverging point: if they belonged to the same set, they must have been drawn out of their course. "After as careful a survey as the circumstances would permit, I have no doubt that the centre of radiation was somewhere between the two stars in the head of Leo major, viz. e and μ; and probably at the precise spot where a meteor appeared and disappeared. I saw one meteor start a few degrees north of μ, (scarcely 3°,) to a point between north and north-east, and its course, traced backwards, passed straight over μ and and the clear impression of the moment on my mind |