AND CEYLON 
''NOTES AND QUE 
[Under this heading, in future, we mean to give a four or eight page " Stippleuient " with our Tropical 
Agriculturist, from quarter to quarter, according as there is matter of sufficient value, so to be preserved.] 
i^:e:g]e:ims]C£i, 1.300. 
SINHALESE MANUSCRIPTS IN THE 
BRITISH MUSEUM, 
The work on u'hich Mr. D M de Z Wick- 
remasinghe has been for some time engaged 
has at last borne fruit in a " Catalogue of 
the Sinhalese Manuscripts in the British 
Museum." That this catalogue should be the 
first of its kind, after Ceylon has been for 
more than a century a British possession, 
is certainly not creditable, to the British 
Government or people, and is a proof of 
the small degree of interest taken by the 
people of Great Britain in oriental matters 
generally, and especially in eastern languages. 
Even Copenhagen had, early in the century, 
thanks to the enthusiasm of the great 
scholar Rask, a better collection of Pali and 
Sinhalese manuscripts than London. Matters 
have improved of recent years, however ; 
and the collection here catalogued com- 
prises some 150 Manuscripts,— a collection 
not to be compared, of course, with that in 
the Colombo Museum ; but still a very fair 
one, containing a few codices of exceptional 
value. The headings under which the Manu- 
scripts are classified are as follows : — 
Christian Literature.— Bible.— 1. 
Buddhist Literature. — Interpreta Uon of the 
Canon.— 2-lS. {12 M.SS.) l7ite7-pretation of Ex- 
tra-Canonical Works in Pali and Sanskrit. — 
14:-22. {9 MMS.) Original Works on Bud- 
dhism.-23-32. (lOMSS.) 
Demonolo&y and Local Cults.— 33— 5L 
MSS.) 
Arts and Sciences.— i/ecZici?ie.— 52— 61. 
MSS.) Astrology, Divination and Magic. 
67. (6 MSS.) 
HiSTOKY.-68-76c. (14 MSS.) 
Inscriptions.— 77-79. (3 MSS.) 
Language.— Ze.z-ieo^>-«?j/M/,— 80-82. (4 MSS.) 
G'-omrHa?-.— 82A-85. (4 MSS.) Rhetoric and 
Prosody.— 86-81. (2 MSS. ) 
General Literature.— Poc^rt/.— 88-109. (26 
MSS.) Tales.— lW-125. (17 MSS.) 
Manuscripts OF Mixed Contents.— 126-137. (12 
MSS). 
(19 
(10 
-62- 
Letters. -138-140. (3 MSS.) 
It will be seen by the above list that 
l^oetry comes first, followed by demonology 
and local cults, tales, and history. (The 
canonical works of Buddhism, being" in Pali, 
do not And a place in this Catalogue.) 
In addition to a careful description of each 
of the Manuscripts, and transcripts of the 
opening and closing sentences of each, Mr. 
Wickremasinghe discusses, more or less fully, 
the subject matter, the author, date of com- 
position, &c., his comments showing much 
learning and critical acumen, and embodying 
a mass of valuable information. Some of 
Mr. Wickremasiughe's statements will no 
doubt form matter for criticism by scholars ; 
but these columns are hardly the place for 
such controversy. 
We mtiy refer to some of the more 
generally interesting features of this Cata- 
logue. On p. 39 is described an anti Chris- 
tian criticism of certain statements regard- 
ing Buddhism and the Solar system, which 
appeared in a Calendar for 18.39 published 
by the Chi'istian Missionaries of Ceylon." 
(The language is dubious, but the meaning 
is obvious.) Of this Mr. Wickremasinghe 
says : — " It is written in a colloquial but 
chaste style, devoid of the contro- 
versial bitterness which marks this kind 
of literature at the present day. The 
writer was pirobably a Buddhist moiik, and, 
considering his limited knowledge, his 
arguments are very intelligent. Some of 
them are, however, very amusing ; for ex- 
ample, speaking of the revolution ot the 
earth, he argues that if the earth moves 
on its own axis, the loose tiles and sand on 
the roof of houses must fall off into space 
in the course of its motion ! " 
On pp. 56-58, we have notes on the 
earliest mention of the Parangi disease in 
a medical work of uncertain date, named 
Yogaratnakaraya. 
On pp. 74-78, the death of Raja Sinha II 
is stated to have occurred in 1692 or 1692-'3,' 
