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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XII. 



According to accepted authority an angala is the distance 

 from the first to the second joint of the forefinger bent.* 11 



Carpenters and some other artificers, says Davy, had mea- 

 sures of their own. The carpenter's angala was equal to the 

 space between the second and third joint of the forefinger : — 



6 angal = 1 pradesa 



7 angal = 1 viyata, or span 



The Bhaisajjaya, Kalpa gives 12 angal as equal to a 

 viyata, as well as, according to another measurement, 12 

 angal as the equivalent of one pradesa. 12 angal are again 

 commonly accepted as the equivalent of an adiya, or foot. 



The viyata, or span, is of three kinds : — 



(1) A vagussa, the space covered by the thumb and the 



forefinger bent at the second joint pressed on a flat 

 surface and stretched to their fullest extent. 



(2) A vigussa, that is the space covered by the thumb 



and the forefinger stretched to the fullest extent. 



(3) A viyata, the space covered by the thumb and the 



little finger stretched to their fullest extent. 

 2 viyat 1 ratana, riyana, or cubit 



Davy says that the carpenter's cubit, or ivaclu riyanah, was 

 composed of twenty-four angal and divided into four parts. 



Witnesses in cases of house-theft before the Law Courts in 

 the Kandyan Provinces as a rule refer to the box in which 

 the jewellery or other valuables are alleged to have been 

 locked up as a wadu-riyan-pettiya, that is, a wooden box of 

 about two cubits in length. 



A miti-riyana, or short cubit, is the space covered by the 



forearm with the fist closed, from the joint of the elbow to 



the top of the second joint of the little finger : — 



4 viyat = 1 niska 



2 niskas = 1 dhanu, or bow 



According to another measurement : — 



2 pradesa = 1 riyana 



2 riyan = 1 niska 



* See Clough's Dictionary, edited by Carter. 12 



