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AUGUST, 1914.]
MISCELLANEA
179
MISCELLANEA, COBRA MANILLA.
to eat earth and to have two heads, one in front IN Hobson-Jobson the name of this snake is and one behind, which it uses alternately for six derived from Mahrathi mater, which is said to be months! The Anglo-Indian form Cobra Manilla' conrected with Sanskrit mani, & jewel'. But was taken over from Portuguese, where cobra means • Manilla' seems rather to go back to manauli, * snake' and manilha '& bangle." As shown which, according to the Dictionnaire Tumoul. above, the second part of the name is due to a
popular etymology of the Tamil mahuli. Fran, ais, is a corruption of mannuni, earth-eater,
E. HULTZSCH, from mai, earth, and un, 'to eat.' In the
(This makes the cobra manilla to be the well Madras Presidency this snake is popularly believed ) known Indian water anakothe domunah. -ED.)
BOOK-NOTICE: The Bower Manuscript. Facsimile leaves, Nagari! The chief contents of the Bower inanuscript are
transcript, Romanised transliteration and English medical, and of considerable interest for the history translation, with notes, edited by A. F. RUDOLF of Indian modicine That is a consequence of the HOERNLE, C.I.E., M.A., PH.D., Caloutta. Superin
fact that it seems possible to settle the question tendent, Government Printing, India, 1893-1912,
about the date of the manuscript with some confi. Archæological Survey of India. New Imperial
dence. Tha result of a careful study of Indian Series. Vol. XXII, Fol. xcviii. 401 pp. This monumental edition of the Bower manu.
paleography and the alphabet of the Bower script is the result of long and laborious work
manuscript has led Dr. Hoernle to the conclusion extending over more than twenty years. It
that the time of writing was the second half of the commenced in the summer of 1891, and the fourth century A. D. The learned editor has introductory remarks were written in April 1912.
were written in April 1912. succeeded in adducing very valid reasons for this The learned editor has had to contend with very dating. He also tries to show that the writers were great difficulties, but then his patient and careful natives of India who had migrated to Kuenar work has resulted in adding considerably to our One of them is supposed to hail from the northern, knowledge of ancient Indian medicine and Indian and the two other ones from the southern part of civilisation generally.
the northern area of the Indian Gupta script. Though the discoveries of the first decennium of
"But the fact that they use birch bark as their our century have brought to light fragments which
writing material shows that the country, from are considerably older than the Bower manuscript,
which more immodiately they migrated to Kuchar, this latter one occupies a unique position, in so far
must have been Kashmir or Udyana ; and the As its discovery and publication in Calcutta, to use the words of the editor, started the whole modern
quality of the birch-bark which they use, suggests movement of the archeological exploration of
that they wrote their respective parts of the Eastern Turkestan.' . It is not necessary in this
Bower Manuscript after their settlement in Kuchar. short notice to follow the different stages in this
when their store of birchbark had run short." development. Suffice it- to remind of the fact that It is of course impossible to prove these theses these explorations have in a remarkable degree with absolute certainty. We know that the Indian widened the scope of Indian philology and research. Brahmi alphabet was introduced into Eastorn We are now able to see, much more clearly than Turkestan in the Kushar a period, and we also was formerly the case, what a predominent role know that its Turkestan varieties did not change Indian civilisation played in Asia at a very early much in the course of the centuries. It is therefore period, and to trace the various elements that just possible that the date of the Bower manuscript contributed to the history of Central and Eastern is a little later than assumed by Dr. Hoernle, and Asia during long centuries. And from the finds in
that the scribes were not themselves immigrants Turkestan unexpected light has already been from India! However, Dr. Hoernle's theory is, I thrown on many questions concerning Indian
think the most likely one. Only I should not attack archæology itself, Indian art, indian literature, and much importance to such features where the Indian history. Every student of Indian history alphabet of the Bower manuscript agrees with and archaeology will consequently view the Bower Arada That latter alphabet soems to have been manuscript with piety, and greet A careful edition
used over & comparatively wido area, and, moreof it, such as the one we owe to the zeal of over, it does not occur in epigraphical records Dr. Hoernle, with gratitude.
before 'a much later time.
1 Compare f. i. forms such as parimakshayet with the common Khotan change of Ito a.
