( 13 ) 



and the day and night are divided into thirty "peyas " each. 

 The water clock is called " pe-teliya."* 



On the top of the case there are some interesting examples of old 

 Sinhalese domestic wood carving, an art which, has almost if not 

 entirely fallen into disuse. The series includes carved cocoanut 

 ladles and spoons with more or less ornate wooden handles, 

 carved wooden 8])00ii racks, and a cocoanut scraper. 



CASE XIII. 



This case contains a large series of boxes and implements 

 employed in the services of the arecanut and tobacco. The 

 arecanut is the principal ingredient in that form of indulgence 

 known as betel chewing. A fragment of a nut with other spices 

 is wrapped up in a betel (pepper) leaf and eaten. Then the 

 finger is dipped in slaked lime called chunam and placed upon 

 the back of the tongue, or sometimes a spoon or spatula may be 

 employed for this purpose. The lime is kept in metal boxes, 

 called cllimam boxes, which are elegantly shaped, embossed, and 

 inlaid. The box is suspended by a chain, at the end of which, 

 when complete, are carried a small silver or brass earpick, a 

 toothpick, and a spatula. The very large chunam boxes be- 

 longed to important personages and were carried by an attendant. 



The arecanut is cut into slices by an instrument, resembling 

 a nut cracker in shape, called an arecaiiut cutter. The handles 

 of these cutters afford considerable scope for artistic display, 

 as will be seen by an examination of the large series here 

 shown. 



Elderly persons with failing powers of mastication are in the 

 habit of pounding their betel bolus before consuming it. For this 

 purpose they use a small pestle and mortar called a betel 

 poiiuder, several of which are exhibited. 



Above the chunam boxes there are some antique jewel boxes 

 made from Dutch designs in brass and copper, embossed and 

 engraved in various patterns. These are known as Dutcll boxes, 

 other examples of which are to be found in the Ivory Case and 

 in Case XV. 



Below the shelf containing the arecanut cutters there is a 

 large series of brass tobacco bo.Ves, These have also been made 

 from Dutch designs, some of them having been actually manu- 

 factured in Holland, whence they were brought here during 

 the Dutch Administration. 



* Farther information on " Sinhalese Measures of Time " is contained in an 

 article by Mr. Herbert White, C.C.S., in The Orientalist, vol. III., 1888-1889, p. 75 ; 

 and in a paper by Mr. F. H. Modder on Sinhalese Weifjhts and Measures, in Journ. 

 Ceylon R. Asiat. Soc, vol. XII., 1892, pp. 173- 202. 



