213 NOTES OF THE QUARTER. (October, November, December, 1894.) I. GENERAL MEETINGS OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 13th November, 1894.-Lord Reay (President) in the Chair. It was announced that— Mr. C. H. Wylde, Munshi Debiprasad, Mr. J. McCrone Douie, I.C.S., Mr. E. D. Maclagan, I.C.S., Mr. Manmatha Nath Dutt, Mr. E. Rose, I.C.S., Mr. H. Nelson Wright, I.C.S., Colonel G. A. Jacob, Mr. E. D. Ross, Mr. F. A. Coleridge, I.C.S., Mr. A. J. May, had been elected members of the Society. Professor Legge read a paper on "The Lî Sâo Poem and its Author," which was followed by a short discussion, in which Mr. Allen, Mr. Ferguson, General Alexander, and Mr. Tseng took part. Dr. G. A. Grierson also read a paper on "The StressAccent in Modern Indo-Aryan Vernaculars." Professor Bühler and Sir Raymond West took part in the discussion. (Both papers appear in the present issue.) 11th December, 1894.-Sir Raymond West, K.C.I.E., in the Chair. It was announced that Mr. C. A. Fox, Mr. E. D. H. Fraser, had been elected members of the Society. Dr. Th. Bloch read a paper on "An Unpublished Valabhi Copper-plate Grant," followed by a few remarks by Professor Bendall and Sir Raymond West. The paper will appear in the April number. II. OBITUARY NOTICES. Dr. Terrien de Lacouperie.-We deeply regret to announce the death of Dr. Terrien de Lacouperie, which occurred at his residence, 136, Bishop's Road, Fulham, on October 11th, of typhoid fever. Dr. de Lacouperie was born in Normandy, and was educated with the view of his entering into commercial life. For some years he was associated with the house of business with which his father and brothers were connected, but his real interests were centred in linguistic studies. To these he devoted every moment of the spare time at his disposal, and in 1867 he published a work on the subject entitled "Du Langage," which, at the time, attracted considerable attention. As he advanced in his studies his desire grew to get as far back as possible in the history of languages, and he began with an investigation into the most archaic forms of the Chinese characters. About this time George Smith, following in the footsteps of Sir Henry Rawlinson, and assisted by the discovery of the library at Nineveh, was throwing open wide the doors of Babylonian learning. It had already been conjectured by several writers that there might be some connection between the civilization of China and Babylonia, but no substantial evidence had been adduced in support of the theory. This conjecture may have suggested to Dr. de Lacouperie the advisability of making a scientific investi gation into the subject. But however that may be, he took up the comparative study of the languages and civilization of China and Babylonia, with learned zeal. For years he pursued the subject, neglecting everything else, and at length was able to establish identities sufficiently numerous and striking to convince any but the most sceptical of the very close relationship, both as regards their civilization and written characters, which existed between the peoples of the two areas in ancient times. In 1879 he settled in London, and in the following year published a pamphlet entitled "The Early History of the Chinese Civilization," in which he gathered up the proofs which he accumulated in support of his theory. While prosecuting these researches he was attracted to the oldest book of the Chinese, "The Book of Changes." This work had been a hopeless puzzle to all those-natives as well as foreigners-who had attempted to explain it. Guided by a scholarly instinct Dr. de Lacouperie perceived that the basis of that work consisted of fragmentary notes of an early age, mostly of a lexical character; that the original meaning to be placed upon them had been lost; and that they bore a close resemblance to the so-called syllabaries of Chaldea. Following up these clues he gained so clear an insight into it that he might almost have said. with Merlin : "O ay! it is but twenty pages long, But every page having an ample marge, And every square of text an awful charm, And every margin scribbled, crost, and cramm'd On this subject he contributed several papers to the pages of this Journal, in which he gave translations of some of the chapters of this difficult book; and if his life had been prolonged he would no doubt have completed the translation of the entire work. With the same erudition and literary insight he made a comparative study of the languages of earlier Asia generally, and twice was presented by the "Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres" with the Prix Julien for the best works of the year on China. In 1884 Dr. de Lacouperie was appointed Professor of Comparative Philology applied to the languages of Southeastern Asia, at University College. Among his best known works were the following: "Catalogue of Chinese Coins in the British Museum." Vol. I. 1892. "Les Langues de la Chine avant les Chinois." 1888. "The Oldest Book of the Chinese, the Ykking, and its Authors." 1892. "The Western Origin of the Early Chinese Civilization.” 1894. He was also Editor of the Babylonian and Oriental Record. R. K. D. James Darmesteter. It is hardly six months since the Council-one of the Honorary Members of the Society, Dr. A. Sprenger, of Heidelberg, being dead-recommended "that the vacancy thus occasioned should be filled up by the election of Mons. James Darmesteter, the distinguished Professor of Persian at the Collége de France, and Secretary of the Société Asiatique. As the members of the Society will be aware, Mons. Darmesteter is the greatest living authority on Zoroastrian literature, and is distinguished not only for his wide philological knowledge in that and other fields, but also for his thorough grasp of historical criticism, and for his mastery of style and power of exposition. It will also be a peculiar pleasure to this Society to be able to confer an honour upon a scholar who adds to his other attainments a very deep and sympathetic acquaintance with English literature." Darmesteter is no more: a short illness at Maisons-Lafitte has broken, on the 29th of November, 1894, the thin thread which united this vast intellect to his weak frame. James Darmesteter was the son of a bookbinder of Château-Salins, where he was born the 28th March, 1849. His elder brother was the well-known philologist, Arsène Darmesteter, who died on the 16th November, 1888. Who could then predict the brilliant scientific career of the poor Jewish artisan's sons? Though for both, life was cut short in the forties-that is, at the height of mental activity-their failing health could hardly have permitted us to hope that, brief though it was, their earthly career should have run so long. In fact, Darmesteter's life was a long struggle of mind against matter, of brain against body, of high intellectual attainment against physical deformity. He went through the regular course of studies in Paris; a student at the Lycée Condorcet, where he carried off, in 1866, the prix d'honneur de rhétorique at the Concours général; he graduated in letters and in sciences as a bachelor, then as a licentiate in letters (1868) and at law (1870); he took the degree of Doctor in Letters in 1877, with a thesis on the Iranian dualism of Ormazd and Ahriman.1 Michel Bréal and the much-regretted Abel Bergaigne were his first masters, and the former has paid a most graceful tribute to his memory in Le Temps of 2nd November, 1894. His first essays were devoted to the language and literature of ancient Persia.2 "Ormazd et Ahriman, leurs origines et leur histoire," par J. Darmesteter. 8vo. Paris, 1877.—In the Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des hautes études. Sciences philologiques et historiques, fasc. xxix. "De verbo latino dare." "Hauwatât et Ameretât, essai sur la mythologie de l'Avesta." 8vo. Paris, 1875.-In the Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des hautes études. Sciences philologiques et historiques, fasc. xxiii. "Notes sur quelques expressions zendes." 8vo. pp. 17.-Extrait des Mémoires de la Société de Linguistique, tome ii. fascicule 4. "Etudes iraniennes," par James Darmesteter. Tome premier: Etudes sur la grammaire historique de la langue persane. 8vo. París, F. Vieweg, 1883.Tome second, première partie: Mélanges iraniens. Ibid. 8vo. 1883. Seconde partie: Traductions indigènes du Khorda Avesta. Ibid. 8vo. 1883.Dedicated to Adolphe Régnier. Contains the grammar from the time of the Achemenides to our days; it is a revised edition of a paper which obtained, |