BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. This volume is a reprint of No. I of the New Series of Journals of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, being the issue for 1864. The peculiarities of orthography are reproduced except where such were obvious eirors. In the original volume the paging began at page 129 and ran consecutively to page 174, i.e., the end of Dr. Dicksen's "Narrative of a Trip through Hunan, from Canton to Hankow"; and on page 174 was the following note : The preceding articles were contributed before the North-China Branch of the Society, as originally constituted, fell into decay. They were printed at the time, and were found awaiting publication by the Editorial Committee. They have accordingly been bound in the present volume, the paging being continued from the last issue of the Journal. The articles which succeed have been read since the re-formation of the local branch in March 1864, and have been paged as the commencement of a new series. The paging of the remaining articles ran from 1 to 148. The present reprint is consecutively paged throughout. THE Volume of Transactions now presented to the public, will, we trust, prove the commencement of a new series. The North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society sustained so severe a shock in the death of its late President, the Rev. Doctor Bridgman, that there seemed just ground for fear that its vitality had been destroyed and that the promise which it at first gave was doomed never to be realised. The local branch has, however, been re-organised, and, in spite of many difficulties, meetings have been regularly held, and more than one valuable paper submitted for consideration. The result of these labors is now placed before the society and the general public, who will judge for themselves as to the progress which has been made. Having advanced so far, it is sincerely to be hoped that the local branch will not again fall into decay. We need not point out the many advantages likely to accrue from possessing a properly organised body of men ready individually and collectively to devote themselves to research into the records of the countries in the midst of which they are living. Many of the problems presented by the political, religious and philosophical systems of China and Japan will, it may reasonably be expected, be solved, while others which to the present members of the Society may prove obstinately insoluble, will be rendered more practicable for subsequent laborers in the same field. The working members of the North-China branch are, if not the pioneers, at least the advanced guard of the army which will ere long make a formidable and, no doubt, irresistible attack on the strongholds in which the learning of the far East has entrenched itself. To each individual in that attacking force it will at some future day be a just ground for self-gratulation that he lent his aid towards the demolition of those barriers which now alike oppose the spread of western civilisation, and the acquirement of knowledge with regard to the complicated systems of the East. 256172 CONTENTS. Page. ... ... ... ARTICLE II.-Notes on some of the Physical Causes which modify Climate ARTICLE III.-Narrative of an Overland Trip from Canton to Hankow ARTICLE IV.-The Overland Journey from St. Petersburg to Pekin ARTICLE V.-The Medicine and Medical Practice of the Chinese ... ... ... 1 ... ...142 ...163 ...175 JOURNAL OF THE NORTH-CHINA BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY ARTICLE I. NOTES ON THE CITY OF YEDO, THE CAPITAL OF JAPAN. The Capital of Japan, situated at the north of the great and beautiful bay of Yedo, has a circumference of 38 kilometres, and covers a surface of nearly 85 square kilometres.* The O-gava, or Great River, divides the city into two parts; the eastern part is called Hondjo; the western part bears more especially the name of Yedo.t HONDJO has a circumference of 14 kilometres and covers a surface of 12 square kilometres. It is an island, the boundaries of which are: South, the bay of Yedo; West, the Ogava; North, a large canal; and East, a river running parallel with the Ogava. This island is traversed from north to south by four canals, and from east to west by three large and a great number of small canals. They cut each other at right angles, and divide Hondjo into eight principal districts. The districts Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 contain in their northern part thirty and odd temples, all surrounded by extensive gardens. In their western part, along the banks of the Ogava, are several large store-houses, which belong to the *One kilometre=1,093 yards. 1 mile=1.6 kilometre; accordingly the circumference of Yedo is 24 miles, and the surface covered by the city 36 square miles. +See map of the City of Yedo at end of article. |