Society has again issued its journal—Volume VIII—to give the public an opportunity of sharing in the immense amount of knowledge regarding Szechuen and the Tibetan border unearthed by the painstaking activities of its members, For the first time the Society has a Chinese President, Mr. S. C. Yang, whose scientific research in Szechuen has already been honoured by the Government. Mr. Yang's presidential address" is contained in the Journal—now printed in Shanghai and published in Chengtu thanks to the facilities provided by aerial transport—ond it eloquently pleads for ce-operation with the Szechuen National University in developing investigation of the folk-lore, customs and literature of the West.
Mr. Yang has been in Szechuen since 1901; in him therefore the Society has an admirably qualified leader. His tribute to the work of the late James Huston Edgar, the pioneer of the Society's efforts, marks the gen-ersity and sympathy of his interest in the office which he now fills. The journal contains a full list of Edgar's writings and some charmingly characteristic poetry from his pen. To his memory D. S. Dye contributes a literary and biographical salute. The journal is packed with a remarkable supply of writing on Szechuen and Tibetan life by a host of experts including the versatile "Tibetan" who is so well-known to these columns and who discusses the "Wheel of Life" The variety of topic can be judged from a random selection: Tribal books of divination. Na-khi sorcery—Tree Gods, the independent Lolo, "White men's graves" Human sacrifices, the Hawk-cuckoo, Art transfers, costly coffins, ancient aboriginal groups, butterflies of Southwest Szechuen, and other out of the way products of exploration and research, all of which go to make a thoroughly competent miscellany.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.