ASIATIC SOCIETY OF PARIS.

Meeting of 7th December.-The following persons were admitted members: M. François Erdman, professor at Casan; M. Julius Rosenstock, doctor in philosophy and philology at the university of Erlang; M. Stahl; M. Guill. Stan. Trebutien of Caen; Mr. Orr.

M. Chezy wrote to the council to request that the text of the drama of Sacontala might be printed at the expense of the Society. An estimate of the cost of printing was annexed to the letter; and two of the seven books of the work are to be ready against the next general meeting. The proposition was referred to the consideration of a committee consisting of Count Lanjuinais and Messrs. Amedée Jaubert, and Kieffer.

M. Feuillet, librarian of the institute, was nominated by the council a member of the finance committee, in the room of the late M. Boulard.

M. Stanislas Julien presented the text and translation (printed) of the second part of his Mencius.

M. Klaproth stated that the Georgian and French Vocabulary was printed, and that the French and Georgian part would go to press this week.

M. Abel Rémusat, in the name of the committee nominated last meeting, read a report on the manuscript work of Messrs. E. Burnouf and Lassen, entitled "Essay

on the Pali."

Conformably to the report, the work will be printed at the expense of the Society.

M. E. Coquebert de Montbret communicated two chapters of his translation of the prolegomena of Ibn Khaldoun.

M. Dumoret read a translation of the Turkish account of the embassy of Dervish Effendi to Petersburgh in 1754.

The council of the Society intimated to the Baron d'Altenstein, minister of public instruction at Berlin, a wish to offer to his majesty the King of Prussia the Journal Asiatique, and the annual reports; his majesty has not only condescended to accept the present, but has been pleased to add to the other motives of gratitude, with which he has inspired the members of the Society, by addressing the following letter to the president of the council.

"I have received the journal and re port which the Asiatic Society of Paris has been pleased to transmit to me through you. I am sensible of the mark of attention which your illustrious Society has afforded me on this occasion; though I

have no need of these proofs to give me art idea of the importance of the labours which engage its attention. The name of its president alone would suffice to guide my opinion in this respect. Continue, you and your associates, to enrich the world by your discoveries, and may heaven grant you, for a long time to come, the health and strength which your researches require !

(Signed) "FREDERIC WILLIAM." "Berlin, October 26, 1825.

HULL LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL
SOCIETY.

The second meeting of the Hull Literary and Philosophical Society was lately held, when a paper was read by Mr. T. J. Buckton "On the Origin of the Americans." The object of Mr. B. was to prove that the American tribes originally proceeded from the north-east of Asia. He founded this hypothesis chiefly on proofs derived from physiology and languages. He showed, from a number of independent authorities, that the varieties observable in the physiological characters of the American tribes are so inconsiderable, that no reasonable doubt can be entertained of their identity; and that the general character of the Americans strikingly indicates their close affinity to the Mongols, or to a mixture of the Mongols and

Tartar races of the north-east of Asia. After observing that the American languages possessed great variety of inflections, and an intricate syntax, he concluded, that the American tribes are the remnants of one or more nations who had attained a considerable degree of civilization; and he introduced a number of proofs of the extensive cultivation of the arts in the new continent. He produced comparative tables of the American languages, and also of the Coptic, Japanese, Malay, Sanscrit, African, Basque, Celtie, and Caucasian, which he considered, however, too limited in the number of affinities to afford any satisfactory result. But he established the identity of the languages spoken by the Tshutshi in the north extremity of Asia, by the inhabitants of the north-west coast of America, and of the Aleutian islands, the Greenlanders, and the Esquimaux. He also showed that striking affinities subsist between the languages of the Samoyedes, the Tongoose, the Yakutes, the Calmucs, the Mantchoos, the Ainos of the Curile islands, the Ostracks, and the Tartars and Mongols generally, and also those of the various tribes

of

of America, from Nootka Sound and Greenland, through Mexico, to Peru and Chili. He then alluded to the traditions of the American tribes, and to the Mexican histories; and concluded, that America was peopled from Asia, by wandering "tribes of Mogul race, who passed thither by Behring's Straits, by the Aleutian islands, and probably by some northern course yet unknown to Europeans.

BOTANICAL COLLECTION FROM MADRAS.

A most valuable and extensive collection of the vegetable materia medica of India has been presented to the University of Edinburgh by his Excellency Sir Thomas Munro, K.C.B., Governor of Madras. Its selection evinces both intimate acquaintance with the subject, and very great industry on the part of Dr. Shuter, naturalist and botanist at Madras, to whom it was entrusted; and the whole was received in such excellent condition, that a portion of many of the seeds, and some of the roots, have been given to the professor of botany, with every prospect of their vegetating and increasing the fine collection of tropical plants already in the royal garden. Besides this extensive addition to the museum of materia medica, it has lately been enriched by curious and valuable specimens presented by John Crawfurd, Esq., resident at Singapore; the late lamented Dr. Schetky, from Sierra Leone; and other alumni of this university.-Caledonian Mercury.

EGYPTIAN MARINE.

The Ptolemies kept up a formidable marine in the Red Sea and Mediterranean to protect the Egyptian merchants. Theocritus affirms they had ninety-seven firstrate ships, several of which were 200 feet long, besides a multitude of small vessels, and 4,000 barks to bear orders throughout the Empire.

Under the reign of the fourth Ptolemy were built vessels of so enormous a size that they have never since been equalled. Plutarch describes one of his vessels with 40 benches of rowers, 373 feet long, and 64 high at the poop. This enormous ship,

beside which our three-deckers would seem small frigates, contained 400 sailors to work her, 4,000 rowers, and about 3,000 fighting men.-[Savary's Letters on Egypt.

FOG-COMPASS.

Lieut. Lindesay, R. N., has discovered a simple method of ascertaining the situation of a ship in a fog, when the sun can be seen, but no horizon, by means of an instrument he terms a fog compass, which entirely abolishes the use of false horizons at sea, particularly that of the spirit-level. Lieut. Lindesay's invention has, we under

stand, been submitted to the Admiralty and Board of Longitude.

INDIAN GYPSIES.

The Nuts, or Tumblers, are a people totally distinct from all the other inhabitants of the country, and correspond in a number of instances with the gypsies of Europe. This caste or tribe generally affect to follow the Mahomedan faith. They have so few religious ceremonies as to render it doubtful whether they profess more than may save them from the imputation of atheism. They inter their relations in a very slovenly manner, and are often found lying drunk about the grave. Their marriage forms are tremely simple: the bride and bridegroom mutually mark each other's faces with red ochre, after which they lock their little fingers together, and avow their union. Regular debauchery, added to violent exercise during their early years, reduce the period of life among these people to a very short compass. Few live beyond the age of forty, and by far the larger portion die before their thirtieth year. The women generally fall victims after having borne four or five children.

CLIMATE OF ARRACAN.

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According to a register published in the India Gazette, the fall of rain at Arracan, in the month of July, was nearly 60 inches; in August it was rather more than 43. There was a "good deal of rain in April, and much more in May and June;" but the rain gauge was not ready before the end of June, and the actual fall was not measured in consequence. The greatest height of the thermometer in July, as given in the register, appears to have been 89; and the least height 77: in August the greatest height registered was 94°; the least 77°.

FECUNDITY OF THE COTTON PLANT.

One stalk of black seed cotton, planted on the 15th May last, by a gentleman for ornament in a garden, in a rich soil, to which no hoe was ever used: height of the plant eight feet; commenced picking 25th October and ended 9th January; gathered 420 pods, 56 pods injured by the frost and remain on the plant; produce 73 oz. of clean, and 2 oz. stained; hand picked; weight of seed 19 oz. There were a number of flowers plucked off early in the season, or the produce would have been more. [Charleston Paper of Jan. 11.

SARACENIC REMAINS.

Fragments of Arabian armour have been dug up in a field near Tours in France. These remains are described as being of very beautiful workmanship, in steel and silver, and are conjectured to be of the

time of the Sultan Abderame, defeated by Charles Martel.

MAJOR LAING.

Accounts from Tripoli announce that Major Laing had reached Gadamas in November, and calculated on being at Timbuctoo by the 10th of December.

THE SNAKES OF SINGAPORE.

Among the novel objects which the natural history of this island offers to the scientific observer, snakes are amongst the most curious and interesting. From forty to fifty distinct species have already been collected, among which many are believed to be entirely new. The Malays, who are particular to redundancy in small matters, have a name for every one of them. Among them is the python, or ular sawah, improperly called the boa constrictor, although we have met with none of extraordinary magnitude, and two curious spe cies of hooded snake. In so great a variety six poisonous species only have been found; nor is the bite of these in the highest degree venomous, as the worst of them seldom destroy a fowl in less than half an hour, and we have not yet heard of a death from their bite among the inhabitants. The mischievous or worthless part of the creation is not less numerous than various in Singapore, so that a naturalist is presented with daily opportunities of observing their habits and manners. We may notice two examples of these habits which fell under our own observation. The most poisonous of the whole is a green snake, spotted black and yellow, with a triangular shaped head, and a pair of formidable fangs on each side of the mouth. animal, in its habits, is so sluggish and so little irritable, that we have seen the Malays sport with it in their naked hands, without the fangs being extracted. We have seen the same animal die in three hours from the bite of a hooded snake, to which it had offered no resistance, although the most poisonous of the two. Two days ago a Malay brought to a gentleman a couple of snakes of different species, tied by the neck and body to one pole, the largest about six feet long, and the smallest about four. In this situation the former took the head of the latter in its mouth, and there held it fast, being unable to swallow his prey from the tightness of the ligature round the neck. As soon as this was undone, however, he commenced the process of deglutition, and by slow means swallowed the whole in about half an hour, not in the least disturbed from its purpose by the presence of a number of persons, nor by being frequently handled and moved, his whole beastly existence being apparently absorbed in the one appetite of satisfying his hunger.-Singapore Chron., June 23.

This

RECEIPT FOR THE CURE OF CHOLERA

MORBUS.

The Bengal Hurkaru contains the following mode of treatment for the cholera, communicated by one of the missionaries at Serampore. "I now send you the receipt for the cholera medicine, which, if properly administered, will always be found effectual. Not one had died out of sixty to whom I have administered it, except one woman who had previously received poison from a Bengalee doctor. The receipt is this:-take 80 drops of laudanum, a wine glass of brandy, and two table spoonfuls of castor oil, mix them together in a small bottle, and give it if possible at once, if not, in succession, one desert spoonful after the other, until it is all given. This is the dose for a man; but for females, girls, and boys, 60 drops of laudanum, the brandy and oil the same quantities as for men.

Should not this be

effectual, give a second dose of 40 drops of laudanum, and one wine glass of brandy, but no oil. With children you will give, consequently, less. In case of this medicine failing, a wine glass of Drogue-amère will be very effectual; we have tried and found it very useful.

"You can administer this medicine in almost all stages of the disease; even when the limbs were already cold, and death had taken hold on them, I have known it to be effectual. As soon as the vomiting, &c. ceases, give them some warm rice water, or congee, and after that, either boiled sago, or soogee (flour). The patients ought to be kept on a dry place and warm."

CHINESE METAL TYPES.

Some metal types of the Chinese character have been cast in Paris, and specimens, we understand, have reached this country. They cannot be intended to supersede the use of blocks (either wooden or metal), as from the number and complicated form of the characters (the compo nent parts of which vary in size and shape according to circumstances), moveable types could not be substituted. The only practical substitute for blocks, in printing Chinese, would be lithography; but this expedient (it is remarked by Dr. Morrison) can only be employed when the work is entirely in the Chinese language.

GENDER OF THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY..

Writers indiscriminately employ both the masculine and neuter gender (they and it) with reference to the Company. In some parts of the East the feminine gender is used. Capt. Pottinger relates that in Beloochistan it is believed that the Company is an old woman, and that he was plagued with questions as to her age, &c. It is curious that there is an officer of the Company in London, who is styled the Company's husband.

Calcutta.

COURTS-MARTIAL.

LIEUT. H. T. XIMENES.

Head Quarters, Calcutta, Sep. 1st 1825. -At an European general court-martial, assembled in Fort William, on Tuesday the 16th Aug. 1825, of which Lieut.-Col. W. Collyer, 67th regt. N. I., is president, Lieut. H. T. Ximenes, hon. Company's 20th regt. was arraigned upon the undermentioned charge, viz.

"For gross and wilful neglect of duty, in having absented himself, without permission, from the garrison of Fort William, on the 29th inst. (July), he having been duly warned in garrison and reserve orders of the 28th inst. (July), as subaltern officer for the main guard on the following day.'

Upon which charge the court came to the following decision:

Finding and Sentence." The court, having maturely considered the evidence adduced in support of the prosecution, together with all that the prisoner has urged in his defence, are of opinion, that he, Lieut. H. T. Ximenes, 20th regt. of N. I., is guilty of all and every part of the charge preferred against him.

"The court, having found Lieut. H. T. Ximenes, 20th regt. of N. I., guilty of all and every part of the charge preferred against him, do sentence him to be suspended from rank, pay, and allowances for the space of six calendar months."

"Approved,

(Signed) "EDW. PAGET, General,
"Com.-in-chief in India."

Remarks by his Excellency the commander-in-chief..

"Lieut. Ximenes is to be suspended from rank, pay and allowances for the space of two calendar months.

"The Commander-in-chief, in consideration of his youth and the expression of his contrition, is induced to remit the remainder of the punishment so justly awarded by the court.

"Lieut. Ximenes' suspension from rank, pay, and allowances is to cominence from the date of the publication of the above orders in Fort William."

CAPT. J. LANE.

Head Quarters, Calcutta, Sept. 13, 1825. -At an European general court-martial re-assembled in Fort William, on Monday the 22d of Aug. 1825, of which Lieut.Col. W. Collyer, 67th regt. N. I., is president, Capt. John Lane of the 7th regt.

L. C., was arraigned upon the following charge, viz.

"In having, on the 24th of June 1825, at Calcutta, on the high road leading from the course, where Capt. Eckford was taking his evening drive, having his wife in the buggy with him, rode upon horseback close to the side of the carriage where Mrs. Eckford was seated, and there addressed Capt. Eckford in the most brutal and indecent language.

"Such conduct being disgraceful to the character of an officer and a gentleman."

Upon which charge the court came to the following decision:

Finding." The court, having maturely deliberated upon the evidence adduced for and against the prisoner, together with the substance of his defence, are of opinion, that he, Capt. John Lane, of the 7th regt. L. C. is guilty of all and every part of the charge preferred against him."

Sentence." The court, having found Capt. John Lane, of the 7th regt. L. C. guilty of all and every part of the charge preferred against him, do sentence him to be discharged from the service of the hon. Company.

"Approved, (Signed) "EDW. PAGET, General, "Com.-in-chief in India." Remarks by his Excellency the Commander-in-chief.

"The Commander-in-chief approves the finding and sentence of the court; but there are circumstances in Capt. Lane's case, which, coupled with his former good conduct in the field, and with his having been wounded in the service, have determined his Excellency to submit to Government his recommendation that he may be placed on the pension list."