praktikal advantejez ov fonetik speli[n], b[u]t after [dh]át, [w]l eksklem [dh]at a reform ov speli[n], hw[o]der par[sh]al or kompl[i]t, iz imposibel. Hwe[dh]er it iz imposibel or not, ei gladli l[i]v tu men ov de w[u]rld tu deseid. Az a skolar, az a stiudent ov [dh]e histori ov la[n]gwej, ei simpli m[e]nten [dh]at in everi riten la[n]gwej a reform ov speli[n] iz, s[ue]nler or l[e]ter, inevitabel. N[o] dout [dh]e [i]vil d[e] m[e] b[i] put of. Ei hav litel dout [dh]at it wil b[i] put of for meni jener[e][sh]onz, and [dh]at a r[i]al reform wil probabli not b[i] karid eksept konk[u]rentli wi[dh] a veiolent so[sh]al konv[u]l[sh]on. Onli let [dh]e kwestion b[i] argiud f[e]rli. Let fakts hav s[u]m w[e]t, and let it not b[i] s[u]p[o]zd bei men ov [dh]e w[u]rld [dh]at [dh]oz h[ue] defend [dh]e prinsipelz ov [dh]e _Fonetik Niuz_ ar [o]nli t[i]totalerz and vejet[e]rianz, h[ue] hav never lernd hou tu spel. If ei hav sp[o]ken stro[n]li in s[u]port ov Mr. Pitman’z sistem, it iz not bek[w]z on [w]l points ei konsider it siup[i]rior tu [dh]e sistemz prep[e]rd bei [u][dh]er reformerz, h[ue] ar d[e]li inkr[i]si[n] in n[u]mber, b[u]t [ch][i]fli bek[w]z it haz b[i]n tested so larjli, and haz stud [dh]e test wel. Mr. Pitman’z _F[o]netik J[u]rnal_ haz nou [1880] b[i]n p[u]bli[sh]t [t]erti-[e]t y[i]rz, and if it iz non [dh]at it iz p[u]bli[sh]t w[i]kli in 12,000 kopiz, [i][ch] kopi reprezenti[n] at l[i]st for or feiv r[i]derz, it m[e] not s[i]m so veri f[ue]li[sh], after [w]l, if w[i] imajin [dh]at [dh]er iz s[u]m veital pouer in [dh]át insiguifikant jerm.] V. ON SANSKRIT TEXTS DISCOVERED IN JAPAN. Read At The Meeting Of The Royal Asiatic Society, February 16, 1880. It is probably in the recollection of some of the senior members of this Society how wide and deep an interest was excited in the year 1853 by the publication of Stanislas Julien’s translation of the “Life and Travels of Hiouen-thsang.” The account given by an eye-witness of the religious, social, political, and literary state of India at the beginning of the seventh century of our era was like a rocket, carrying a rope to a whole crew of struggling scholars, on the point of being drowned in the sea of Indian chronology; and the rope was eagerly grasped by all, whether their special object was the history of Indian religion, or the history of Indian literature, architecture, or politics. While many books on Indian literature, published five-and-twenty years ago, are now put aside and forgotten, Julien’s three volumes of Hiouen-thsang still maintain a fresh interest, and supply new subjects for discussion, as may be seen even in the last number of the Journal of your Society.