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INTRODUCTION
II. Collection And Distribution Of The MS Evidence.
2.1. Methods of gathering the MSS. Theodor Aufrecht's three dirt Catalogus Catalogorum (Leipzig 1891-1903] is sadly out ot date for modern editorial purposes. Many times the number of MSS mentioned there have now gravitated to public collections while the number of such collections has itself increased enormously. The need will eventually be filled by the great Catalogus Catalogorum projected by the University of Madras. The information which I used as a starting point was furnished from the records of this forthcoming publication by its present editor, Dr. V. Raghavan. The general procedure which now prevails is that institutions allow MSS to be sent on loan to each other provided the borrower furnishes & legal indemnity bond for the approximate value of the MSS. The necessary guarantee was given for me in most cases by P. K. Gode of the BORI, where the borrowed MSS were lodged and studied. No less than 75 were actually found in Poona collections. Foreign institutions sent microfilm or rotograph duplicates at reasonable cost. In the case of those Indian collections which operate under rules permitting them to borrow but not to lend out MSS, a pratīka index or hand-copy was sometimes made. In a few cases, collation at the distant centre was also possible, but generally slipshod. I was able examine a few private collections by the kindness of friends who negotiated; in these casos, is also in dealing with many semi-public libraries, personal influence is of prime importance, and should be the first line of attack. A few known depositories of Bhartrlari MSS have escaped being tapped. The largest from which no information could be obtained at all is at Leipzig, where Aufrecht's own catalogue of 1901 reports eight MSS, nos. 417-424. One each is reported in the state collections at Bharatpūr and Kotah. These, like the 5 MSS in the Raghunāth Temple Library at Srinagar (Stein's catalogue) cannot be issued on loan, while there are no satisfactory arrangements for reliable copies at any reasonable cost. The logical procedure, had it been within my means, would have been to travel to all these places with it microfilm camera and take duplicates. Actually, this would not be worth while unless arrangements were also made to visit the innumerable Jain Bhändārs all over the country in the same tour. The East Punjab inbbeys at Ambālā, Amritsar, Nakodar, Patti, and Zira contain--ccording to Banārasi Dās Jain's Catalogue [Pt. I, Lahore 1923 1-no less than 20 Bhartshari MSS. Other collections of similar type should be extant in Näthapanthiya, Lingäyat, and a few Hindu Mathas. On the whole, however, the examination of material has been reasonably thorough, if not exhaustive.
The most remarkable external feature of the MSS is their distribution. They are to be found, in local or indigenous versions, in just three large regions: N=Greater Rajasthän, including Gujerat, S--the Dravidian peninsula, and a third region, which may be denoted by greater Mahārāştra, to include not only western India but settlements of Mahārāstrian pundits from Tanjore to Benares. This is approximately the territory tliat was sealed off at an early date by Mohammedan conquest. Of the three, the Greater Rājasthān area undoubtedly gives MSS of the most varying types. A parallel to Vavilov's law for botanical species would justify the conclusion
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