bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Art. X.—Analysis of the Mirát-i-Ahmadí, a Political and Statistical History of the Province of Gujarát, translated from the Persian
Authors: Bird James
Published: August 2016

The large province of Gujarát, or Guzarát, including the peninsula of Katiawár, extends from Banswárah to Dwarka, or, from east to west, about two hundred and ninety miles; and from Bírgaon, in Jalór, to Damán, or, from north to south, about three hundred miles. It is watered by several considerable rivers; among which the Narbada and the Mahi were known to Ptolemy. This, which is one of the most productive districts of India, supplies the greater part of the commercial articles exported from the port of Bombay: these are cotton, opium, saltpetre, indigo, tobacco, grain, and gold-cloths.
Art. XV.—Biographical Sketches of Dekkan Poets; being Memoirs of the Lives of several eminent Bards, both ancient and modern, who have flourished in different Provinces of the Indian Peninsula; compiled from Authentic Documents
Authors: Ramaswami Cavelly Venkata
Published: August 2016

The work of which the title is copied above at full length, is a specimen of the class which this department of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society was designed to make more extensively known. It has of late years become not unusual for natives of India to publish literary works in the English language; and the practice would, it is thought, become much more common, were greater extension given to the—at present—very limited sphere in which they are known. In the hope of promoting an object so desirable, in every point of view, as the cultivation of the English language among the natives of the immense possessions in the East subjected to British sway, and to encourage the publication in that language, by themselves, of their literary labours in every department, it has been determined to devote a space in this Journal, in which analyses of such works shall be inserted, and their existence and nature thus become speedily and widely understood.
Art. I.—On the present State and future Prospects of Oriental Literature, viewed in connexion with the Royal Asiatic Society
Authors: Taylor W. C.
Published: August 2016

When the Asiatic Society was first founded in Bengal, the purposes of its institution were stated in these memorable words by Sir William Jones: “The bounds of its investigation will be the geographical limits of Asia; and within these limits its inquiries will be extended to whatever is performed by man, or produced by nature.” The announcement was hailed with enthusiasm, not only by the ardent scholars who began to explore the untrodden fields of Indian literature, but by their distant countrymen, anxious to learn the result of their investigations. Asia has ever engaged the sympathies of Christian Europe; it was the cradle of our race, the birth-place of our faith, the first great source of our civilisation. We can read no history, investigate no antiquarian problem, nor examine any philological research, without having our attention more or less directed towards those vast plateaux whence our forefathers descended into the western world. Every new fact communicated respecting them interests us like intelligence of our family; every fresh monument of antiquity discovered in these regions claims the same respect that we accord to the tombs of our ancestors.
Art. IX. — An Account of the Sect of Kaprías
Authors: Money R. C.
Published: August 2016

On visiting Mhurr, in the year 1328, I was desirous of learning some particulars of the customs and history of the Kaprías; a sect so called from worshipping Párvatí, one of whose names, taken by her on a particular occasion, is “Kala Purí,” or “Káya Puri.”In Cutch she is known under the name of “Ásá Purá,”and “Mátá.”The temple dedicated to her in this town is of great celebrity uod antiquity, and endowed with many honors by the Raos of Cutch. It boasts of no external beauty, is clumsily stuccoed over, and surrounded by buildings belonging to the Kaprías. These people superintend all affairs connected with the sacred establishment in the immediate neighbourhood, as well as those of several villages granted by the Ráos to the goddess.
Art. III.— Observations on Atmospheric Influence, chiefly in reference to the Climate and Diseases of Eastern Regions, in Five Parts
Authors: Ainslie Whitelaw
Published: August 2016

Towards the conclusion of the first part of these Observations, I took occasion to notice the supposed cause or causes of the variation of colour that is found amongst the different nations of the world; and referred to the somewhat opposite opinions of several distinguished writers on this point. I shall now proceed to offer a few remarks on the influence of climate on the tempers and dispositions of men; and we believe that nothing is more evident than its effects on these, totally unconnected with intellectual qualities, in their definite sense. The English are unequal in their spirits, being alternately animated and gloomy; so we find our climate changeable, more so, I may say, than that of any other country in the world. The Romans of these days are grave, ardent, and conscientious; the inhabitants of Naples are cheerful, thoughtless, and enthusiastic, and many of them so giddy in their manner as almost to impress us with a notion that they are under the partial influence of some inebriating liquor: differences which we can in no way account for, but as they may be occasioned by the very opposite climates of the banks of the Tiber and the Bay of Naples.
Art. V.—Remarks on the Language of the Amazirghs, commonly called Berebbers
Authors: Gräberg Jacob
Published: August 2016

The original inhabitants of Mount Atlas, and of nearly all the provinces of Maghrib-ul-Aksa, or the present empire of Marocco, are usually divided into two tribes — namely, the Berebbers and the Shelluhhs, both descended from the ancient Mauritanians and Gætulians; perhaps even from the Libyes of Sallust. These two tribes differ essentially from each other; and it is not without reason, that those travellers and geographers, to whom we are indebted for the best information with respect to Marocco, have asserted that the Shelluhhs are not Berebbers. The Moors, or Arabian inhabitants of the country, consider them as two nations of a different origin; as well on account of their manners and the diversity of their natural dispositions, as from the entirely distinct profile of the face, and from their dialects, which differ so much, that they cannot converse together without the aid of an interpreter. Mr. James Grey Jackson, in his Account of the Empire of Marocco, and of the District of Sus, confirms this assertion by a list of words of common use in both languages; and, most certainly, they prove nothing less than a common origin. But such differences, radical or accidental, may be met with in almost all the sister languages. It is, for instance, a curious fact, that the very leading Shelluhh words, which Mr. Jackson quotes as altogether differing from the Berebber, as woman, wife, boy, girl, &c. differ just as much, if not more, in the Swedish, Danish, German, and Dutch languages, which, most undoubtedly, are of one and the same origin. This observation holds good even with respect to the Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian languages. What is more certain, and beyond all doubt, is, that the pretended Berebbers and Shelluhhs live separately and that they bear very little, if any, relation to each other. Although their habitations are sometimes very near, they never have any social intercourse; nor does an instance exist of individuals of one tribe having intermarried with the other.
Art. VIII.—Letter from the Right Hon. Sir Alex. Johnston to the Secretary to the Royal Asiatic Society
Authors: Johnston Alex
Published: August 2016

In reference to the statement, published in the last Number of the Society's Journal, of the allusion which I, as Chairman of the Committee of Correspondence, had made in my Report, at the last Anniversary Meeting, to the account given by Dr. Robertson in the Appendix to his Historical Disquisition on Ancient India, of the opinions of Mr. Baily and Mr. Playfair, as to the extreme age of the Hindú astronomical tables, I have to request, with a view of affording the readers of the Journal the most recent information upon the subject, and thereby preventing them from drawing any erroneous inference from the supposed antiquity of those tables, that you will be so good as to publish in the Journal the following statement of the very scientific and very able opinion of the celebrated M. La Place, as to the real age of the same tables. It is copied from Harte's Translation of La Place's Système du Monde, pp. 220, 221, 222. (Dublin, 1830.)
Art. X. — Process of making Crystallised Sugar from Toddy, or the Juice of the Cocoa-nut Palm, on the Island of Ceylon
Authors: Colebrooke Colonel
Published: August 2016

The toddy is collected in vessels perfectly clean, into each of which a small quantity of the ál, or banyan-tree is put, to retard fermentation, and correct astringencies. Before the liquor begins to ferment, it is strained through a clean cloth, and boiled in a pan of brass, or other metal, until the impurities rise to the surface, when they are carefully skimmed off. When the liquor has lost its watery colour, and become a little reddish, it is poured into another pan, and boiled over a strong fire, the scum being again taken off as it accumulates. The fire is then gradually diminished, until a white scum appears on the surface, and increases to a froth. The liquor then becomes adhesive, and of a consistency to be removed from the fire, which is ascertained by allowing a little of it to cool, and by drawing it into a thread between the finger and thumb. If the thread does not break when drawn to about an inch in length, the syrup is removed from the fire, poured into another vessel, and left to cool till it is little more than lukewarm. A little crystallised jagrí, or course sugarcandy, is then mixed with it, and the whole is poured into a fresh vessel, having an aperture and stopple in the bottom, so accommodated as to allow the uncrystallised part to ooze out. Crystallisation is completed in about a week, when the stopple is removed to allow the remaining fluid to escape, and, at the end of another week, the crystallised sugar is taken and placed near a fire in a góní, or sack. The expense of manufacture is about one penny and one-eighth per pound, exclusive of the cost of vessels.
Art. XIV. —History of Tennasserim
Authors: Low James
Published: August 2016

A thinly peopled country can only carry on an advantageous commerce under the following circumstances. It must be an emporium to which the commodities of various nations are sent, not for its consumption, but to be shipped to other ports; or it must yield produce which is denied, or scantily allowed) by nature to other regions, and which can be raised and manufactured by the industry of a few.
Art. XV.—An Essay descriptive of the Manners and Customs of the Moors of Ceylon
Authors: Casie Chitty Simon
Published: August 2016

The several ceremonies and external observances of religion practised by the different castes of Tamils or Hindús, having been made the subject of a former Essay, my present intention is to particularise those which are peculiar to the Moors, as far as they have come within the reach of my observation; and also to note the striking similarity they bear to the ceremonies of the Jews. I shall first, however, offer a few preliminary remarks on their origin, and on the etymology of the various epithets by which they are commonly designated and distinguished among other tribes of natives.
Art. IV.—Translation of a Berber Manuscript
Authors: Hodgson W. B.
Published: August 2016

The present narrative was composed, a few months ago, at Tangier, under my direction. It was written by the Taleb Sidi Ibrahim ben Muhammed, of the town of Messa, in the province of Sús. It was first written in the Berber language, and thence translated into Arabic, from which I made an English version.
Art. VI.—On Phœnician Inscriptions, in a Letter addressed to the Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society
Authors: Temple Grenville
Published: August 2016

On my arrival here last week, I found that the Royal Asiatic Society had published a lithographic fac-simile of a Phoenician inscription which I had found in Barbary, and which I had forwarded to the Society, through Lieut. Gen. Forbes: and having also heard that this inscription had occupied the attention of several persons, learned in the languages of the East, I am induced to send you the copies of four others, which I discovered in different parts of the Beylek of Tunis, as well as two which were found at Malta, in 1822, by Signor Bonicci, and which I believe have not hitherto been published.
Art. XII.—On the Cause of the external Pattern, or Watering of the Damascus Sword-Blades
Authors: Wilkinson Henry
Published: August 2016

It is well known that Damascus was formerly celebrated all over the world for its manufacture of sword-blades, and it is recorded, that when Timúr Lang conquered Syria, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, he carried off all the manufacturers of steel into Persia; since which period, the fabrication of arms has declined at Damascus, and the successors of those workmen, being dispersed over the East, are said either to have lost the secret, or ceased to make blades of more than ordinary goodness. We must, however, first divest ourselves of all prejudice in favour of the exaggerated reports of their qualities, and remember, that at the time when the natives of the East were well acquainted with the art of working in iron and steel, we, and indeed all Europe, appear to have been comparatively in a state of perfect ignorance; the ancient swords of Damascus, therefore, when opposed to those of other countries, were probably found to be infinitely superior in temper and quality; which, combined with their great external beauty, stamped them for ages with so high a character for excellence, that they are even now handed down as heir-looms by Eastern princes to their posterity. The extraordinary prices that have been offered and obtained for them, sufficiently attest the estimation in which they were held, which is certainly not warranted in the present day, when swords of equal, or superior quality, might be manufactured at one-twentieth of the expense. In addition to the foregoing observations, the strength and great dexterity of the swordsmen must be taken into consideration, and much of the apparent superiority of these blades may be undoubtedly ascribed to this cause.
Art. XVIII.—Two Plates of Coins, presented to the Royal Asiatic Society
Authors: Steuart John Robert
Published: August 2016

The accompanying two plates of coins present a type which is quite new to the numismatic world, if we except two or three specimens published in the second part of Vol. I., of the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, from the collection of my ingenious and indefatigable friend Colonel Tod, who has left no branch of Indian antiquities unexplored or unadorned. We are informed that he met with these coins in the whole of the district from Oujein to Cutch, as far as the Indus, and he ascribes them to the Balhara sovereigns, mentioned by the Arabian travellers of the ninth century, as translated by Renaudot, who conceives these princes to be the same as the Zamorin. In this attribution I must differ with Colonel Tod for several reasons, independent of one to which I shall now confine myself, and which is to be found in the text of the above work; viz., that the drachms coined by the Balhara princes are said to weigh one-half more than the Arab drachm, whereas the coins in question do not even reach the weight of this last.
Art. XIX.—Translation of an Inscription in the Sanskrit Language, and inscribed in the Purvada Halla Character, on three Copper Plates, found in the Karnataka, or Southern Mahratta Country. Dated saka 980 (A. D. 1058.)
Authors: Wathen W. H.
Published: August 2016

Prosperity.—1. May that Samba, who is adorned with brown braided hair, from whom proceed mighty sovereigns, the source of all sciences, knowledge, charity and instruction! may this lord of the three worlds be always victorious!!

Be Prosperity.–—2. The frontal ornaments of the Silahar family, the increaser of the fame and power of the children of Jimúta-Váhana, on whose flag is the figure of a golden eagle (Garuda) possessor of this ocean-girt globe. A king whose praises are celebrated by the princes of the Karnataka country, who hath the auspicious mark called Malayanka, king of kings endued with great wisdom; dreaded by inimical princes; protector of the country of the city of Tagara (or the Tagaranagara-country-protector), “Tagaranagara-bhupalakah,” of splendid fame, of unchangeable determination, of renowned valour, who dwelt as a lion in the strong hill-fort of Pannala; of fair and vast valour, supreme lord of great princes, who seized the treasures of his enemies; such was the king Sri-Jatiga.
Art. II.—Essays on the Puránas. I.
Authors: Wilson Horace Hayman
Published: August 2016

The earliest inquiries into the religion, chronology, and history of the Hindús, ascertained that there existed a body of writings especially devoted to those subjects, from which it was sanguinely anticipated much valuable and authentic information would be derived. These were the Puránas of Sanscrit literature, collections which, according to the definition of a Purána agreeably to Sanscrit writers, should treat of the creation and renovation of the universe, the division of time, the institutes of law and religion, the genealogiès of the patriarchal families, and the dynasties of kings; and they, therefore, offered a prospect of our penetrating the obscurity in which the origin and progress of the Hindú social system had so long been enveloped. A formidable difficulty, however, presented itself in the outset, arising from the voluminous extent of this branch of the literature of the Hindús, and the absence of all facilities for acquiring a knowledge of its nature. The Puránas are eighteen in number, besides several works of a similar class, called Upa, or minor, Puránas. The former alone comprehend, it is asserted, and the assertion is not very far from the truth, four hundred thousand slokas, or sixteen hundred thousand lines, a quantity which any individual European scholar could scarcely expect to peruse with care and attention, unless his whole time were devoted exclusively for very many years, to the task. Nor was any plan, short of the perusal of the whole, likely to furnish satisfactory means of judging of their general character: few of them are furnished with anything in the shape of an index, or summary of contents, and none of them conform to any given arrangement; so that to know with accuracy what any one contains, it is necessary to read the entire work. The immensity of the labour seems to have deterred Sanscrit students from effecting even what was feasible, the publication or translation of one or two of the principal Puránas, and to the present day not one of them is accessible to the European public.
Art. III.—An Account of Gumli, or more correctly Bhumli, the ancient capital of Jetwar
Authors: Jacob G. L.
Published: August 2016

In Captain M'Murdo's able report on the Peninsula of Kattywar, which was published in the first volume of the Transactions of the Bombay Literary Society, he alludes to Gumli in these brief words:— “Jaitwar, inhabited by the Jaitwa Rajpoots, comprises that part of the coast within thirty miles of Poorbundur, which is the seat of authority of the present sovereign family; they are styled Ranas, and originally dwelt at the city of Goomlee, the ruins of which, are still to be seen and admired, at the bottom and on the summit of the Burda hills.” And again, “The Burda hills which have been mentioned under the head of Jaitwar, consist of a clump of mountains near Poorbundur, running from Goomlee on the north, to Kundoora on the south extreme about twenty miles; this range is not above six miles in breadth, and the southernmost end is the lowest; they are in many places covered with low wood, and possess abundance of good water on their summits; an account of the ruins of Goomlee would be a curious paper.” I was prompted by these remarks to visit Gumli, and though few of its edifices are now standing, enough remains to merit description.
Art. IV.—On the Three-faced Busts of Siva in the Cave-Temples of Elephanta, near Bombay; and Ellora, near Dowlatabad
Authors: Sykes W. H.
Published: August 2016

In the fifth number of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, p. 100, there is a translation, by Mr. Wathen, of the Bombay Civil Service, of inscriptions on copper-plates, said to have been found at Karda in Dekkan. At the bottom of the page there is a note explanatory of the phrase in the invocation, “Uncreated, Triple, Celestial Trio,” in which Mr. Wathen says, “This is an invocation to the Trimúrti, or united form of Brahmá, Vishnu, and Siva, the Hindú triad: the centre figure in Elephanta.”
Art. VII.—Account of the Remains of the celebrated Temple at Pattan Somnath, sacked by Mahmúd of Ghisni, a.d. 1024.
Authors: Burnes Alexander
Published: August 2016

There are few facts in Eastern history better authenticated than the invasion of India by Mahmúd of Ghizni: the details of his sack of Pattan Somnath have been narrated, in some detail, even by the accurate Gibbon, and a few particulars, therefore, regarding the present condition of this far-famed temple and city, collected in October, 1830, may not be unacceptable to the Society.
Art. X.—Notes respecting some Indian Fishes
Authors: Cantor Theodore
Published: August 2016

On a former occasion I had the honour of laying before this learned Society a collection of Molluscs and Zoophytes, from the northern part of the Bay of Bengal; I shall to-day take the liberty of calling their attention to some sketches of fishes from the same locality, and the estuaries of the Ganges, which I had an opportunity of making during my sojourn there, while discharging the medical duties on the Honourable Company's surveying vessels. By reference to the ichthyological works, from different Indian localities, of Dr. Russell, Dr. Hamilton, Baron Cuvier, and Mr. Bennet, it would appear that at least one-third, perhaps one-half, out of upwards of a hundred species, which I examined between Calcutta and the twenty-first degree of north latitude, are not noticed by the above authors. Dr. Hamilton, indeed, in the introduction to his work upon the Gangetic fishes, is of opinion, that while in the rivers above, where the tide reaches, not more than one kind in five has escaped his notice, of those found in the estuaries he has not probably described above a half, a great number of which have been noticed by Dr. Russell. The fact is, I have observed many species, which, inhabiting a more southern latitude, are brought up towards the mouths of the Ganges, by the strong flood-tide prevailing during full moon, while others only temporarily enter the rivers during the spawning season. Thus many fishes, found in abundance by Russell on the Coromandel coast, are very scarce, or not met with towards the northern part of the Bay of Bengal, and of those species from Ceylon, figured and described by Mr. Bennett, I have observed none.
Art. XI—Mr. Wathen's Translation of Ancient Inscriptions
Authors: Wathen W. H.
Published: August 2016

1. Stanza in adoration and praise of Mahádéva (Sambu.)

(In 1008 year of the æra of the fortunate most victorious King Sáliváhan, in the year of the cycle called Kshya, on the 10th of the bright half of the month Pausha, being Sunday, during the Bharani Nakshatra (mansion of the moon), and the northern solstice; the fortunate, the gem of the ocean of all virtues, the protector of devatas and priests, constantly possessing the blessing of the sacred tribe, ornamented with never-failing prosperity, the sun of sovereigns, adored by Rajas, a lion amongst kings, the gratifier of princes, (the valiant in battle, whose throne is on the mountain Parashara), lord of the dominions of the Karnataka, south of the Narmada: Jaya-Sankara Raya has granted a Dánapatra to Sridhara Sarma and Sahasra Sarma, sacrificers and causing sacrifices to be made, lecturers and causing lectures to be read, receivers of alms, and givers of alms (being the six rites), gems among the learned, obedient to the prince, and ornaments to the prince, of the Sutra Aswaláyana, and of the Bharadwaja race, (and to one thousand other Brahmans to this effect):

I bestow the village Powali, as an Agraháram, upon me thonsand and two Brahmans, to procure the favour of the Almighty towards my father and mother, who both died at the Nága Tírtha of that village, in presence of the god Iswara, who has a temple there: I appoint Sridhara, Aswaláyana sútra, Bharadwaja gotra, of Toragalla, Jyotishi: Sahasra Sarmá of the same sútra and gotra, Adhyápakas and spiritual chiefs of the village; Ananta Bhat, Viswámitra gotra, Dharmádhikárí: Somanaya Vallabhaga Tirúmalaya, Bharadwaja gotra: Gauri Sankarasaya Bási (?) gotra, Shanbhai: Chamma Saga Mani, Bhárgava gotra: directors general of temporal affairs of the village.
Art. XII.—On the Ante-Brahmanical Worship of the Hindús in the Dekhan
Authors: Stevenson John
Published: August 2016

In treating of the Hindú religion, much confusion has arisen from considering all the nations settled in the plains, and ranging over the mountains of Hindustan, from the Himálaya to Cape Comorin, as originally embued with one faith, and following one religious ritual.
Note on the Aramaic Treaty of Bar-ga'ya and Mati‘el
Authors: Langdon S.
Published: August 2016

Father Ronzevalle has now published the text of the important stela from Sudschîn, 14 miles south-east of Aleppo, Mélanges de l'Université Saint-Joseph, xv, 235–260 (1931). On face Aa Bar-ga'yā, king of K-T-K, and Mati‘el, king of Arpad, engage in a treaty before certain gods, most of whom are Babylonian with the exception of the Aramaic Sun-god and ('Elyōn) “the most high”, a title of the same Aramaic deity, the 'Elioun of Sanchounyathōn. In line 10 occur the deities N-K-E and K-D-'-H which may be Aramaic transcriptions of Babylonian, eventually Sumerian deities. Dussaud, Comptes Rendus, 1931, 315, identified these gods with the two titles of Tammuz, Nagar, and KA-DI, which occur together regularly in the Tammuz hymns. The readings of and which Dussaud took from Meissner, Babylonien und Assyrien, ii, 168, as Nagar and Kadi, were read Lamga and Kasa in my edition. Lamga is only a phonetic variant of Nagar > Lagar > Lamga(r), and there is no reason why the classical form Nagar should not be preferred to the dialectic Lamga. Also Zimmern, Sumerisch-Babylonische Tamuzlieder, Berichten der Phil. Hist.Klasse der Königl. Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften lix, 212, preferred the classical form Nagar, and so does Witzel, RA. 10, 173; 16; 176, 7, etc. Zimmern does not commit himself on the reading Ka-di, which I read Ka-sá, but transcribes KA-DI. Witzel like Meissner reads Ka-di.
A Tablet in Kufic from Kufa
Authors: Guest R.
Published: August 2016

THE blet illustrated in Plate I was bought at Kûfa and the seller declared that it had been discovered in the neighbourhood, a statement that can doubtless be accepted as true, for there would have been no inducement to bring such an object from a distance for sale at a place so stagnant as Kûfa is now. As affording at least a fairly early example of Kûfic writing coming from the birthplace of the script, it appears worth recording in the absence of other specimens, notwithstanding that it is not marked with a date. Mr. Gerald Reitlinger, who acquired the tablet in 1931 when he was at Kûfa for his exploration of Ḥîra, has been so good as to supply the photograph for publication.
On an Origin of the Caraka and Suśruta Saṃhitās
Authors: Müller Reinhold F. G.
Published: August 2016

In JRAS., 1932, pp. 789–814, the time of the comprehensive collection of Indian medical sciences is established approximately in the middle of the first millennium A.D. and later. In this connection a sketch of the local origin of the precepts chiefly current in the oldest Saṃhitās, which bear the names of Caraka and Suśruta (abbreviated: CaS and SuS), may be of interest. In the introduction (pp. 7–8) to his celebrated inquiry into Indian osteology, Hoernle answers this question: According to the tradition preserved in the Buddhist Jātakas, in the age of Buddha there were two great universities, Kāśi or Benares in the East, and the still more famous Takṣaśilā [the Taxila of the Greeks] on the Jhelam River in the West. Ātreya, whose doctrines are propagated in the CaS, lived at Takṣaśilā; the king of Kāśī instructed Suśruta in surgery. This would place the origin of surgery, as a science, in the Bast of India. Furthermore, Nemi, the lord of Videha (or Tirhut in the eastern province of Bihar) is regarded as the author of ophthalmic surgery.
The Travels of Ippolito Desideri
Authors: Tucci Giuseppe
Published: August 2016

Sir Charles Bell has given in this Journal (July, p. 710) a detailed account of this important book on Tibet, which, though already edited in Italian by Puini, has remained for many years insufficiently known. It is not, therefore, my purpose to write a new review of the book.
Tibetan Documents concerning Chinese Turkestan. VI: The Tibetan Army
Authors: Thomas F. W.
Published: August 2016

Under the rule of Buddhist ecclesiastics, fostered originally by foreign (Mongol) suzerains, Tibet has not been a military power. Probably no religion is more potent than Buddhism in damping the fighting spirit; of which developement Mongolia itself has in modern times afforded a signal example. The Tibetan people, though in some districts rough and turbulent, is not warlike: the brigand tribes of the northeast belong to a region which, since the overthrow (A.D. 1226) of the Tangut kingdom by Cingiz Khan, has been largely Mongolized, as even the geographical nomenclature proves, and which in native Tibetan times must have presented a quite different aspect. The Tibetan armies, when such are required, consist mainly of levies from the great monasteries; the creation of a small standing army in the most recent period has encountered prejudice.
Tarikh-i-Muhammad Arif Qandahari
Authors: Sharma Sri Ram
Published: August 2016

Tarikh-i-Muhammad Arif Qandahari is often cited as an authority in many extant works of Mughal history. Sir Henry Elliot, however, failed to secure even a fragment of the work and had to content himself with a note based on the citations in other histories. Nor did his editor Professor Dowson succeed any better. Thus the History of India as told by her own historians (vol. vi) contains a very brief note on the very sketchy information available at the time.
An Interpolation in some MSS. of the Bṛhatkathāmañjarī
Authors: Emeneau M. B.
Published: August 2016

At the end of their edition of K's Brhatkathā-mañjarī (Kāvyamālā 69) Śivadatta and Parab print an appendix of 78 ślokas, which purports to be the twenty-fourth story of the Vetālapañcavimśati. It was not found in their MSS. but was supplied to them by T. S. KuppūsvāmĪ from a Tanjore MS. Speyer in his “Studies about the Kathāsaritsāgara” (Verh. d. K. Ak. v. Wetenschappen te Amsterdam, Afd. Lett., N.R. viii, 5, p. 14, n. 1) says that he has “a strong presumption that this portion does not belong to the work of K”. That such is the case can be proved conclusively.
Specimen of a Khambu Dialect from Dilpa, Nepāl
Authors: Wolfenden Stuart N.
Published: August 2016

The language specimen here reproduced was brought in to me while in the Darjeeling neighbourhood in 1931, having been taken down in the recently revived Limbu alphabet by an educated Limbu, by name Iman Singha Chemjong, direct from the dictation of the speaker himself. Though pressure of work on other languages of the “pronominalized” group prevented my seeing the actual speaker, who Was off in another part of the hills, there is no difficulty in placing the dialect with its nearest relatives in the Linguistic Survey. It is, without doubt, a form of Rungchhēnbūng, and a near relative of Wāling. To the former the Linguistic Survey was able to devote, through lack of material, only some two pages, to the latter, for the same reason about a page and a half, no specimen being available in either case. I, therefore, give what follows as a small supplement to our knowledge of this little-known form of speech.
Art. XVII. — Description of the Sea-Ports on the Coast of Malabar, of the Facilities they afford for Building Vessels of different Descriptions, and of the Produce of the adjacent Forests
Authors: Edye John
Published: August 2016

My first paper being descriptive of the various vessels of India, on the coasts of Malabar and Ceylon, I shall now proceed to describe the sea-ports, and the resources of the forests, on the coast of Malabar; and also, the facilities for building vessels of different descriptions, particularly at the port of Cochin, and those places which I have visited during my residence of five years in the country.
The Sacred Mountain in the Old Asiatic Religion
Authors: Wales H. G. Quaritch
Published: August 2016

Evidence to establish cultural diffusion is primarily sought in complicated material inventions, especially decorative motifs, because these give the best chance of ruling out independent origins. Since culture is usually diffused in complexes, rather than as isolated traits, we may then proceed to examine the deeper aspects of the civilizations concerned. In the case of religion, however, a difficulty that confronts us at the outset is that much of ancient religion was simple animism, too unspecialized to afford evidence of diffusion. Mountains, for example, either as homes of spirits or gods, oras being deities personified, are almost universal wherever there are mountains. Moreover, we have to bear in mind that such primitive ideas are liable to persist among peoples who are, or once were, influenced by more advanced religions.
Moments and oscillations of exponential sums related to cusp forms
Authors: VESALAINEN ESA V.
Published: August 2016

We consider large values of long linear exponential sums involving Fourier coefficients of holomorphic cusp forms. The sums we consider involve rational linear twistse(nh/k) with sufficiently small denominators. We prove both pointwise upper bounds and bounds for the frequency of large values. In particular, thek-aspect is treated. As an application we obtain upper bounds for all the moments of the sums in question. We also give the asymptotics with the right main term for fourth moments.

We also consider the mean square of very short sums, proving that on average short linear sums with rational additive twists exhibit square root cancellation. This result is also proved in a slightly sharper form.

Finally, the consideration of moment estimates for both long and short exponential sums culminates in a result concerning the oscillation of the long linear sums. Essentially, this result says that for a positive proportion of time, such a sum stays in fairly long intervals, where its order of magnitude does not drop below the average order of magnitude and where its argument is in a given interval of length 3π/2+ϵ and so cannot wind around the origin.
Human observers differ in ability to perceive insect diversity
Authors: WILSON JOSEPH S. , JAHNER JOSHUA P. , FORISTER MATTHEW L.
Published: August 2016

Human perception of biological variation is an important and understudied issue in the conservation and management of natural resources. Here, we took a novel approach by asking 1152 participants, primarily college biology students, to score examples of insect mimicry by the number of distinct kinds of animals they saw. Latent class analysis successfully separated participants based on their accuracy of perception as well as demographic information and opinions about biodiversity. Contrary to expectations, factors such as childhood experience (growing up in urban, suburban or rural areas) did not affect the ability to see biodiversity as much as political views (location on a spectrum from liberal to conservative) or the position that biodiversity is important for the health of the environment. We conclude that research into effective measures of biological education should consider the connection between personal views and perceptions of natural variation.
Religion in Public Life: The “Pfefferian Inversion” Reconsidered
Authors: Holcomb J. David
Published: August 2016

In 1984, Richard John Neuhaus's book,The Naked Public Square, initiated a proliferation of publications addressing the role of religion in public life. Many of these echoed Neuhaus's concern that a strict adherence to the separation of church and state, particularly by the U.S. Supreme Court, has marginalized religious voices to the detriment of American culture. Consequently, the separationist position is now widely understood to mean that, as the following quote from a text on religion and politics illustrates, religion is to be kept out of public life.

The separationist position believes that religion should be kept in the private realm. It tends to emphasize the problems involved in the absolute nature of religion's claims over and against the compromises required for democratic life. Thus religious claims tend to divide the culture, rather than to unite it, which makes religion a potentially dangerous element in public life, and it should be kept in the private realm.
Her Pain Prevails and her Judgment Respected—Abortion in Judaism
Authors: Barilan Y. Michael
Published: August 2016

In 1977, the Israeli parliament (Knesset) changed the section on abortion in the colonial criminal code which Israel inherited from the British mandate in Palestine. Like most other Western countries who relaxed their laws on abortion in the 1960s-80s, Israel made abortion legal for almost all women who seek it. Nonetheless, the Israeli law on abortion differs substantially from other nations' laws. In no stage of pregnancy does the woman have an absolute right to abort—she always needs an approval from a special committee; yet, the woman's stage of pregnancy is nowhere a relevant legal criterion for permitting or forbidding abortion. The law does not explicitly grant the fetus any value either, as the law speaks only of “termination of pregnancy.” Indeed, Israel has one of the highest rates of late abortions among the developed countries and one of the most liberal laws on the regulation of infertility treatments and research on extra-corporeal embryos.

Jewish religious law (Halakhah) ignores both questions central to the modern ethical, political and legal debate on abortion: the status of the fetus and the autonomy of women. Furthermore,Halakhahis not expressed in the language of rights, such as the rights to life and privacy, but rather in the language of obligations and limitations on action. A rich symbolic world of values and virtues complementshalakhicpositivist formalism by inspiring and demonstrating desirable ways of life and modes of valuing human action. Regarding abortion, the dialectics between Jewish law (the formal law, which delineates right from wrong) and morality (which inspires and portrays ideal modes of action as part of a largely oral tradition of private counseling and synagogue preaching) reach a powerful climax. The religious law prohibiting abortion is one of the most liberal among human legal systems, but the values of procreation and preservation of human life that inform the moral discussion are fundamental.
VÉNUS SELON IBN AL-ŠĀṬIR
Authors: Penchèvre Erwan
Published: August 2016

We attempt to grasp the mathematics behind the planetary theories of the Syrian astronomer Ibn al-Šāṭir (1304–1375) in his treatise Nihāyat al-Sūl. Following the astronomers of the Marāgha school, by composing circular movements with constant angular velocity, Ibn al-Šāṭir attains two goals. He eliminates the need of excentrics and equant points in astronomy; but he also describes longitudes and latitudes with a unique method, with no more orbs than what is strictly necessary for the longitudes. A better understanding of rotation as a spatial transformation enables this ultimate economy of thought. In our commentary, we take Venus as an example offering an interesting problem about the latitudes. This is an opportunity to give a critical edition of the chapter of the Nihāyat al-Sūl dedicated to the latitudes of Mercury and Venus.
THE RECEPTION OF AVICENNA'S THEORY OF MOTION IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY
Authors: Ahmed Asad Q.
Published: August 2016

This article explores the reception of Avicenna's theories of motion in the sixth/twelfth century. Avicenna had devised innovative ways of understanding motion in response to various challenges and conditions that the preceding philosophical tradition and his own internal critique had posed. Motion for him was either the state of being between two termini or the traversal of an interval, where the former of these was the extramentally real type and the latter a product of the imagination. In the sixth/twelfth century, the implicit critique of some leading scholars led to the adoption of the thesis in some circles that motion by traversal is extramentally real. This position was accepted as viable both by those who endorsed the atomic and the continuous theory of bodies.
AL-BĀQILLĀNĪ'S COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FROM AGENCY
Authors: Muhtaroglu Nazif
Published: August 2016

In this paper, I propose to expose the logical structure al-Bāqillānī's argument for the existence of God and argue that it presents a distinctive type of argument that cannot be classified under the classical types of ontological, cosmological, and design arguments. The peculiarity of al-Bāqillānī's argument is related to the concept of God it presupposes. Developing Herbert Davidson's insights regarding this argument and criticizing Majid Fakhry's interpretation of it, I aim to clarify this concept of God by the concept of agency. In a nutshell, I argue that al-Bāqillānī presents a distinctive type of argument for the existence of God, which I propose calling the “cosmological argument from agency.” I consider it cosmological because it is an inference from the universe to the existence of God. Nonetheless, it is different from the classical versions of the cosmological argument for that the concept of agency and the idea of a personal deity play a central role in this argument.
Primary Triage in a Mass-casualty Event Possesses a Risk of Increasing Informational Confusion: A Simulation Study Using Shannon’s Entropy
Authors: Ajimi Yasuhiko , Sasaki Masaru , Uchida Yasuyuki , Kaneko Ichiro , Nakahara Shinya , Sakamoto Tetsuya
Published: August 2016

Introduction

Primary triage in a mass-casualty event setting using low-visibility tags may lead to informational confusion and difficulty in judging triage attribution of patients. In this simulation study, informational confusion during primary triage was investigated using a method described in a prior study that applied Shannon’s Information Theory to triage.

Hypothesis

Primary triage using a low-visibility tag leads to a risk of informational confusion in prioritizing care, owing to the intermingling of pre- and post-triage patients. It is possible that Shannon’s entropy evaluates the degree of informational confusion quantitatively and improves primary triage.

Methods

The Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment (START) triage method was employed. In Setting 1, entropy of a triage area with 32 patients was calculated for the following situations: Case 1 – all 32 patients in the triage area at commencement of triage; Case 2 – 16 randomly imported patients to join 16 post-triage patients; Case 3 – eight patients imported randomly and another eight grouped separately; Case 4 – 16 patients grouped separately; Case 5 – random placement of all 32 post-triage patients; Case 6 – isolation of eight patients of minor priority level; Case 7 – division of all patients into two groups of 16; and Case 8 – separation of all patients into four categories of eight each. In Setting 2, entropies in the triage area with 32 patients were calculated continuously with each increase of four post-triage patients in Systems A and B (System A – triage conducted in random manner; and System B – triage arranged into four categories).

Results

In Setting 1, entropies in Cases 1-8 were 2.00, 3.00, 2.69, 2.00, 2.00, 1.19, 1.00, and 0.00 bits/symbol, respectively. Entropy increased with random triage. In Setting 2, entropies of System A maintained values the same as, or higher than, those before initiation of triage: 2.00 bits/symbol throughout the triage. The graphic waveform showed a concave shape and took 3.00 bits/symbol as maximal value when the probability of each category was 1/8, whereas the values in System B showed a linear decrease from 2.00 to 0.00 bits/symbol.

Conclusion

Informational confusion in a primary triage area measured using Shannon’s entropy revealed that random triage using a low-visibility tag might increase the degree of confusion. Methods for reducing entropy, such as enhancement of triage colors, may contribute to minimizing informational confusion.

AjimiY, SasakiM, UchidaY, KanekoI, NakaharaS, SakamotoT. Primary triage in a mass-casualty event possesses a risk of increasing informational confusion: a simulation study using Shannon’s entropy. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(5):498–504.
Testing an Adapted ICF Model: Aging, Vision Impairment, Activity, Participation and Subjective Dimensions of Functioning
Authors: Good Gretchen Ann
Published: August 2016

An adapted model of the ICF, which incorporates subjective dimensions of functioning, has proven useful in classifying variables for research. This model was tested for its potential for further development. The following study evaluates the relationships between the components of the adapted ICF model. Five hundred and sixty surveys from adults aged 65+ from the Manawatu region of New Zealand were analyzed to test the proposed model. An adapted model of the ICF, developed in prior research exploring the impact of vision impairment on the lives of older adults, was tested. There was evidence to support the proposal that the adapted ICF model is valid and that there are moderate and strong relationships between the components. Results can influence further development of the ICF and details of this study can enhance research, practice, policy and education related to aging and human service delivery. Providers, educators and researchers should be encouraged to incorporate subjective dimensions of functioning, such as satisfaction measures, into assessments related to rehabilitation of older adults.
A Study of Construction Site Safety Culture and Implications for Safe and Responsive Workplaces
Authors: Biggs Herbert C. , Sheahan Vaughn L. , Dingsdag Donald P.
Published: August 2016

The high injury rate with in the Australian construction industry necessitates proactive action on the behalf of rehabilitation professionals. Safety culture is a concept that is gaining traction within this sector as a useful concept to further reduce fatalities, injuries and incidents. Ten focus groups were completed with Australia's largest constructors to investigate this concept of safety culture and to further evaluate the skills, knowledge and abilities required by people who hold influential and key roles. Data interpretation revealed three important personal characteristics that underlie a positive safety culture: safety knowledge, user/interpersonal skills and appropriate attitudes and beliefs. These findings are applied to the rehabilitation process and it is concluded that rehabilitation professionals need to contribute to the development of a positive safety culture by enhancing the workforce's understanding of injury management.