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X betaking to the profession. As a class, these copyists are men of limited literary knowledge; but generally speaking, they are faithful to their duty, and reproduce the originals placed before them with fair accuracy. Authenticity of MSS.-17. They rarely attempt to correct the errors and mistakes of the originals, and to exonerate themselves from all charge of tampering the origianls, they not unoften put a verse at the end of their works, saying, "As he has seen, so has he copied, and the copyist should not be blamed for mistakes." Clerical errors they are certainly liable to, and do commit, but such errors are not numerous. One serious mistake they, however, sometimes commit,-it is that of copying in the body of the text, notes and parallel or remarkable passages which often occur on the margins of old and frequently-read codices, and these consequently appear as parts of the texts in their works, and subsequent copying from their codices perpetuates the interpolation. This is, however, done through ignorance, and not through any wicked motive. Of fabrications and forgeries, the Mahatmyas and local legends afford ready instances; but they are due to Pandits, and not to copyists. Corrections made by Pandits when reading are necessarily perpetuated by copyists, and to them is principally due the numerous vara lectiones which are to be met with in Sanskrit writings. This evil has been of late greatly multiplied by incompetent editors, who print texts from solitary MSS, and replace doubtful readings and fill up lacuna by imaginary emendations. With a few praiseworthy exceptions, the publications of the Bengali and Benares presses belong to this class, and they are much less trustworthy than even corrupt MSS. The plasticity of the Sanskrit language admits of even obviously incorrect readings being explained somehow, and the authenticity of the originals is thereby irretrievably ruined. The errors of MSS. may be corrected by collation, for though there are many faulty MSS. I have every reason to doubt that there are many falsified texts, but the fabrications in printed books issued by thousands cannot be readily detected and exposed. With so many causes at work to injure the authenticity of ancient Sanskrit works, and at a time when European Orientalists are so busily employed in tracing interpolations and corruptions which have already taken place, it would be futile to attempt in a report like this to enquire at length how far the charge may be sustained; but this much may be said that the MSS. now extant do not show any sign of