176 
A portion of it has been printed in the Rev. W. W. Skeat’s 
edition of Chaucer on the Astrolabe ( Early English 
Text Society , 1872.) 
This shows that the Arabic numerals were in use at a date 
much earlier than is generally supposed. A critical examina- 
tion of this MS. and of the form of the numerals employed 
would probably throw more light upon this interesting 
subject. 
