The theory that Samudra Gupta inherited the kingdom of his maternal grandfather as well as that of his father is unsupported by the lawbooks, for if he were his maternal grandfather's heir he could also inherit his paternal estate only if his father had no other sons, which we know was not the case. Reference to the mother's patrilineage in this and other cases is made (1) to distinguish one's descent from that of half-brothers, (2) because of the political support a mother's family may provide, and (3) to emphasize the special purity or illustriousness of one's descent. The use of metronymics and other practices illustrates a built-in ambiguity in Indo-Aryan kinship: the wife assumes the clan and lineage of her husband upon marriage in theory, but in fact she never fully relinquishes her affiliation to her natal clan and lineage.

The primary purpose of this article is to present three Lahu texts, each recited by a different ritual specialist during identical rites for the recall of a wandering soul. In order to put these texts in context, I shall give a detailed account of the recall rite. It will be necessary also to explain briefly the Lahu Nyi theory of multiple souls.

The importance of the texts of early Tibetan inscriptions once in the possession of the 18th-century lama, Rig-'dzin Tshe-dbang Nor-bu (RT), has been shown by the recovery from his collection of a lost inscription of Khri Srong-Ide-brtsan (JRAS, 1964) and the substantial restoration, from his material, of that at the tomb of Khri IDe-srong-brtsan (JRAS, 1969). His copy of the rKong-po inscription adds some new matter to the text I have published in JRAS, 1954, and, as it is a valuable social document of the 8th and 9th centuries, there is sufficient reason to attempt a new edition. That leaves for future examination RT's texts of the Lhasa Treaty Inscriptions of 822 and the “sKar-cung” inscription. In the first, his copy gives some help towards establishing a final text; but the inscriptions are long and the necessary critical apparatus is daunting. As for the second, RG has little to add to the text edited by myself in JRASB, 1949, and by Professor Tucci in The tombs of the Tibetan kings, Rome, 1950 (TTK). All that is necessary is to correct a few small errors which crept into the printing, and to comment on a few readings.

Isaac Burkill, the scholar whose birth-centenary we are commemorating, has excellently surveyed the history of botanical activities in India. His Chapters on the history of botany in India originally appeared as separate articles in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society from December 1953 onwards. More recently, the Botanical Survey of India responded to a general wish by publishing these articles in book form, revised by Burkill himself, his revision being completed in the 93rd year of his long and fruitful life.