The accompanying words and phrases of Southern Chin, as spoken at the foot of the Arakan Yoma Mountains in the Minbu district, were taken down a few years since by Major B. A. N. Parrott, I.S.C., who later on presented to me the book in which they were, written, along with others on Oriental subjects. They are interesting as representing the most Northern dialect of this language, which reaches its most Southern point in the Sandoway district. (I pass by the dialect spoken in Bassein and the South of Henzada as being much corrupted by the extended intercourse which has there taken place between the Chins and the Burmans.) In publishing now this Vocabulary of Minbu Chin it has seemed advisable to compare it word by word with that of the Sandoway district, not merely in order to show more clearly the dialectic variations which exist, but also as an assistance towards the elucidation of the still obscure philological laws which obtain in this family of languages. In a speech which has suffered so extraordinarily from phonetic corruption and decay as this latter, all evidence which will in any way tend to join together the scattered links of verbal stems and endings must be considered as scientifically useful.

From two of my friends, Professor De Goeje and Mr. Hogarth, I have had the good fortune to receive many corrections for my recent paper on Ibn Serapion, and these I now hasten to publish, as throwing much new light on the subject of the geography of Mesopotamia in the time of the Caliphs.

In fulfilment of the undertaking given by me on p. 387 of the J.R.A.S. for 1894, I submit the text of an unpublished Sutta from the Majjhima Nikāya dealing with the ‘marvels and mysteries’ of the Buddha's nativity. Buddhaghosa's commentary on the Sutta is also given, though the absence of MSS. for collation leaves the readings in many instances far from satisfactory to me. I hope in an early number of the Journal to have an opportunity of discussing the subject-matter in the light of the Lalita Vistara and the Nidāna-kathā of the Jātaka.

In this article I do not propose to attempt any general classification of the dialects spoken in different parts of Persia; for, in the present state of our knowledge, and with the materials yet available, such attempt would, perhaps, be premature; and, in any case, the task is one which I am not competent to undertake. Neither do I deem it necessary to enlarge upon the importance of the philological results which a fuller study of these dialects may be expected to yield. My present intention is merely to make known a collection of poems, of various dates and authorship, composed in different dialects of the Persian language, and contained in a small manuscript which came into my possession about four years ago.

On the occasion of a visit to Egypt last winter, I occupied myself in copying some of the inscriptions in the old graveyard of Assuan (Aswān, or Uswān)— as many, that is to say, as the limited time at my disposal would permit.

The Chinese text is that approved by the famous Chû Hsî in his “Collection of Comments” on all the portions of the Ch'û Ts'ze. I have taken it from the Hû-pei edition of his Work in 1876. In studying the poem, I have made constant use of the Lî Sâo Ching, Chang Chü by Wang Yî of our second century, and a minister of the later Han dynasty, as published in the Ch'ang-sha or Hû-nan edition of 1882, with which is incorporated the “Supplemental Commentary” of Hung Hsing-tsû of our twelfth century. My earliest study of the poem, however, was from a reprint of the Wăn Hsüan, or “Selections of Literary Compositions,” by Hsiâo T'ung, with the posthumous title of Châo-ming, eldest son of the founder of the Liang dynasty (A.D 502 to 556), containing also the commentary of Lî Shan, a functionary of the T'ang dynasty.

The addition of a counter-mark to a coin already current has usually served one or other of two distinct purposes. It has occasionally merely denoted the ratification or re-sanction of a currency already legal; it has more frequently been used to show some change in the conditions of a currency—as, for instance, a change in its value as legal tender, or its circulation in a different country or under a different government. The true interpretation of many ancient counter-marks would no doubt add considerably to our knowledge of the world's history. Unfortunately their evidence is generally of that kind which suggests a great deal more than it can prove; and it must be confessed that their contribution to knowledge has been disappointingly small.