4 
A. F. R. Hoemle — The Weber Manuscripts. [No. 1, 
bo seen on Plate II, fig-. 1. In the case of Part IX, the coat, apparently 
under the influence of clamp, has caused the leaves to stick together, 
and thus extensive damage has been done, as may be seen from figures 
3-5 on Plate III. 
A very striking peculiarity of the Weber Manuscripts is, that they 
are written in two quite distinct types of written characters. One of 
them — that in which Parts I, II, III and IV are written — is the well- 
known Indian character of the North-Western Gupta variety, being the 
same type (though a different sub- variety) as that used in the Bower 
MSS. This type of character is sufficiently well-known, and I need not 
say anything more about it here. 
The other type of characters, used in Parts V-IX, is what I may 
call the Central Asian N&gari. It is a peculiar angular and slanting 
form of the Indian Nagari characters. On the whole the several Parts 
exhibit these characters in a variety of handwritings, though the 
essential type of the chai’acters is the same. There is, however, a 
distinct variety, not merely of handwriting, but of type, noticeable 
between the characters used in Parts V-VIII and in Part IX. The 
test letters are the dental th and dli. In Part IX their shape is angular 
and squarish, tli and tT dh, while in Parts Y-VIII it is round, 0 th 
and O dli. ( See Plate IV. ) For the purpose of comparing these two 
varieties of the Central Asian Nagari, Parts VII and IX (Plate II, 
fig. 6 and Plate III, figs. 3—5) are the best, because in their general style 
of handwriting they most nearly resemble one another. In the sequel, 
I shall refer to these two varieties as the round and the square varieties 
of the Central Asian Nagari. 
I may here refer to a few other peculiarities of the Central Asian 
alphabet. Firstly, the curious form of the super-scribed vowel e, with 
its curve turned to the right. Secondly, the curious form of the letter 
to. I have observed this form, in a few rare cases, on gold coins of 
Samudra Gupta. It has, clearly, grown out of the angular Indo- 
Scythian form of to ; and its origination would fall in the early time 
of the Gupta period (Samudra Gupta 380-395 A.D.). The series of 
changes would be these X, 3, all of these forms being represented 
on Gupta coins, and the last being the parent of the Central Asian form. 
Thirdly, the curious resemblance between the forms of /i t and A n. 
They can only be distinguished by the fact, that the right-hand angle of n 
is more decidedly acute-angled. Fourthly, the curious symbol of a double 
dot over letters, in fact a double anusvara. It may be seen frequently 
in Mr. Oldenburg’s Kashgar manuscript. In the Weber Manuscripts, it 
occurs only m Part IX, which, as above remarked, is distinguished by 
being written in the square variety of the Central Asian Nagari. It is, 
