80 A. F, R. Hoernle— On the date of the Bower Manuscript. [No. 2, 
which were published in the November Proceedings. It was particularly 
gratifying to me to find that, reading the manuscript, he in Vienna 
and I in Calcutta, at about the same point of time, we independently 
arrived at essentially the same conclusions, both with regard to the age 
and the contents of the manuscript. Such a coincidence most distinctly 
makes for the truth of our conclusions. 
The substance of the paper which I now publish on the age of the 
Bower MS., and which I promised in the April Proceedings , was originally 
intended by me to form a part of the introduction to my edition of the 
manuscript. But seeing the interest which the manuscript has already 
excited in Europe, I publish it now in anticipation, and hope similarly to 
publish portions of the manuscript, with translations, from time to time. 
I may state here briefly the result of my detailed examination of 
the manuscript. It consists of not less than five distinct portions. 
The first portion consists of 31 leaves. It contains the medical work 
of which I have published the commencement in the April Proceedings , 
and two pages of which are figured in the upper parts of the two plates 
accompanying the November and April Proceedings. I shall designate it 
by the letter A. 
The second portion, to be called B, which immediately follows the 
first portion, consists of five leaves, and forms a sort of collection of 
proverbial sayings. A specimen of it is figured in the lower part (No. 
II) of the plate in the April Proceedings. 
The third portion, C, consisting of four leaves, contains the story 
of how a charm against snake-bite was given by Buddha to Ananda while 
he was staying in Jetavana, the garden of Anathapinda. A specimen 
of this portion is figured in the lower part of the plate in the November 
Proceedings. 
The fourth portion, D, consists of six leaves. It is preserved in a 
rather unsatisfactory condition, and appears to contain a similar collec¬ 
tion of proverbial sayings as the second portion, B. 
The fifth portion, E, which also consists of five leaves, contains the 
commencement of another medical treatise. It appears to be—so far 
as I can judge at present—a fragment of a larger work. 
Besides these five connected portions, there appear to be a few 
detached leaves, quite unconnected with one another and with those 
larger portions. 
Of the fourth and fifth portions no specimens have been published, 
but the fifth is written in the same style as the first portion. The fourth 
portion is written in an exceedingly slovenly and hurried hand, much 
resembling that of the third portion, but written far more slovenly. It 
may possibly represent the handwriting of a fourth scribe; though, on 
