88 JOURNAL R. A. S. (CEYLON). [Vol. VII., Pt. II, 



Pali, or Elu, and means ' a share.' De Zoyza, Maha-Mudaliyar, 

 pronounces it a Sanskrit, or Pali word, to which the following 

 meanings have been given in the Dictionaries : — (i) ' a part' ; 

 (ii) ' a fraction' ; (iii) 1 the 16th part of the Moon's disc'; (iv) 'a 

 mechanical act;' (v) ' a division of time.' The kald, 25)@3, or 

 Kaldrca, 2S5(3o£), in Sinhalese, of which we are now treating, 

 he] renders as ' the sixteenth part, or digit, of the moon's 

 disc, which in some mysterious way ascends and descends in 

 the human body.' As it is always difficult to apply a term of 

 one language to translate a term of another accurately, each 

 in its native use being associated with ideas foreign to the 

 other, we must modify this definition. I think my original 

 conception will consist with taking kaldrca as a derivative 

 from kald, and the idea obtained will therefore be, that of 

 some moving principle, or local predisposition, following a 

 course in the human body in relation to the course of the moon 

 in her increase and decrease. 



In the examination of the calendar of the kalarca, many 

 discrepancies occur in the various versions received by me. I 

 propose to add translations of the two published versions, as 

 they are probably more generally accepted on account of their 

 publication. The principal discrepancies in the various 

 accounts are in the fourth kaldrca, described as " the calf" or 

 "the knee-cap" ; the eleventh described as " the lip," "the 

 lower lip," "the cheek." This second discrepancy may spring 

 from the general application of the term tola (dZTaq to the 

 region of the fore-teeth, the lips, cheek, and chin. 



But besides these discrepancies in details, I found that my 

 original information, distinguishing the Mul-kalawa, § (3? 355(5 3 © 

 from the Amrita-kaldwa, cp^a^^QoE) (erroneously called 

 Mr uta- kaldrca, §2Z5)tS)QdZ)) was altogether wrong. It 

 appears that in Sinhalese popular medical works the Amrita- 

 kaldwa means literally ' the ambrosial' or ' good' kaldrca. The 



