8 
Dr. Hoernle —Antiquities from Central Asia. [Extra No. 1, 
Wooden Boards. 
of palm-leaves together by a cord on which they are arranged, the cord 
going through all the leaves by a hole in the middle of each.” The hole 
was not at first in the exact middle, but—probably a modified survival 
of the ancient practice—slightly more to the left, as seen, e.g., in the 
Nepalese manuscript No. XXI (Palseographical Society) which is dated 
in 1015 A.D. Still later, and at the present day, the hole appears in 
the exact middle of the leaves. The peculiar position of the string-hole 
in the Central Asian Pothis, therefore, points pro tanto to a very early 
date for the introduction of the Indian fashion of book-making into 
Eastern Turkestan, and for those Pothis themselves. As to the wooden 
covering boards, only those of one Pothi, No. 1 of Set I, are included 
in the British Collection. Of another Pothi, 
No. 2 of Set I, one of the wooden covers exists, 
but it belongs to the Weber MSS. collection, which also includes a 
portion of that particular manuscript: the other cover is missing (see 
my Report on the Weber MSS. in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of 
Bengal, Yol. LXII (1893), pp. 2, 5, 32). One of the covers of Part I 
of the Weber MSS. (see ibidem , pp. 2, 9), as well as the two covers of 
the Bower MSS. also exist. Seeing that the Bower MSS., the Weber 
MSS. and the Macartney MSS. are said to be proceeds of the same find 
(Introd., pp. x-xii), it seems not improbable that the covers of all the 
manuscripts comprised in the find were originally found, though only 
those above enumerated have been obtained from the finders. 
All the Pothis are written on paper. The paper is soft, and of a 
whitish colour. The only exception is the 
Pothi, No. 3 of Set II, the paper of which is 
hard and stiff, and of an orange colour. It is clearly coloured artificially, 
and its rigidity may be due to that cause. The whitish colour of the 
other paper is, no doubt, its natural colour. Regarding the material 
of which the paper is made, I can offer no opinion. Not possessing the 
requisite technical knowledge myself, I have submitted specimens for de¬ 
termination to Hof rath Professor J. Wiesner, of the University of Vienna, 
who will publish a report of his investigation when it is finished. In 
the meantime I am informed by him that the papers of the Pothis differ 
in one point: that of Pothis Nos. 4, 5, 7 of Set I, and No. 3 of Set II, 
is sized or loaded with starch. On the other hand, he could not detect 
any trace of starch in the paper of the Pothis Nos. 1, 2, 3, of Set I, and 
Nos. 1, 2 of Set II, though this does not prove absolutely that no starch 
was used in its preparation. 1 There is also another difference which I 
have noticed myself. Some of the papers exhibit parallel waterlines, 
Paper. 
1 No. 6 of Set I and Nos. 4, 5, 6 of Set II have not been examined by him. 
