105 
1900.} A. F. R. Hoernle — Epigraphical Note on Palm-leaf, etc. 
presently refer to) all dated manuscripts are uniformly written on 
Coryplia leaves. From 1675 A.D. the use of the Borassus leaf almost 
entirely supersedes that of the Corypha leaf. Commencing with that 
year there are 18 manuscripts examined by me. Two of these are 
South-Indian which must be excluded. Of the remaining 16 manu- 
scripts 12 are written on Borassus leaves, and only 4 on Corypha 
leaves ; that is to say, 75 per cent, are Borassus manuscripts. 
In order to appreciate the very effective character of the evidence 
of Table I, let it be noted that, between the years 1000 and 1770, there 
is a total of 77 decades, of which not less than 51 are represented in 
the Table by one or more manuscripts. The 14th and 17th centuries 
are the best represented, every decade appearing in the Table, except 
those beginning with 1320, 1620 and 1650. The 15th century is the worst 
represented, as the decades beginning with 1400, 1410, 1420, 1430, 1480 
and 1490 are wanting. The effectiveness of the representation is corro- 
borated by Table II, which, it may well be assumed, would have filled up 
many gaps in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, if the exact dates of 
the manuscripts listed in it were known. The effectiveness will be 
found still more corroborated by the exact dates given in Table III. 
With Tables I and III combined, there remain only 9 decades unre- 
presented; viz., those beginning with 1040, 1100, 1140, 1150, 1430, 1480, 
1650,1710, and 1740, and some of these probably are covered by Table II. 
There are only two manuscripts dating before 1675 A.D., which 
are written on Borassus leaves. These are Hos. 60 and 61, belonging 
to 1587 and 1594 A.D. respectively. Ho. 61 is written wholly on 
Borassus leaves ; while Ho. 60 is only so partially : the body of it 
is written on Corypha leaves, while the end is on a Borassus leaf. 
These are exceptional cases ; they only indicate, as I shall show further 
on, that the use of Borassus leaves first began in a sporadic form in 
Southern Bengal. But for Horthern India generally. Table I shows 
that we may take the year 1675 A.D. as the epoch that marks the 
change from the use of Corypha to that of Borassus. 
Before proceeding further, it may be as well at once to meet an 
objection that might suggest itself. It appears to be believed that 
Borassus leaves are much less durable than Corypha leaves. This may 
or may not be true : I have no special evidence on the subject. But 
Dr. Burnell in his South-Indian Palaeography (2nd ed.), p. 41, says : 
“ It is hopeless to look for old specimens, as palm-leaf MSS. perish 
rapidly in the Tamil country, where they are mostly written on leaves 
of the ‘ Borassus flabelliformis,’ far inferior to the Talipat leaves in 
beauty and durability.” So also Mr. Simon de Silva, Mudaliyar, in 
Colombo informs me that “ the Talipat leaf is preferred for the purpose 
