पृष्ठम्:बृहद्देवता.djvu/२१

Introduction] ARRANGEMENT OF NOTES [xxv in the light of all the external evidence I could bring to bear, has, however, now reduced these passages to hardly more than half a dozen. I have, perhaps, been over cautious in the matter of conjectural emenda- tion. If so, it is, I think, the effect of an experience I had at the age of twenty. When a student at the University of Göttingen, I was one day reading an English author, borrowed from the lending library, in the Tauchnitz edition. Here occurred the expression 'milch cow,' which was corrected on the margin to 'milk-cow,' written in a German hand. The lesson conveyed by this correction I have never forgotten. My hand has often been stayed by the reflexion, 'Is this a milk-cow emendation?' Apart, however, from the question of emendations, it is quite impossible, even though I have always carefully weighed the evidence, that I should in every case have selected the best reading supplied by the MSS. at my disposal. I have, therefore, endeavoured everywhere to furnish the material which will render the correction of any errors I may have left as easy as possible. 12. Arrangement of translation and notes. Besides the use in the text of asterisks to mark emendations, and of symbols to indicate divergences of recension, a peculiar feature of the present edition is the placing of the critical and illustrative notes, imme- diately after the translation of each śloka in the second volume. In this way the reader can have under his eye, at the same moment, the text on the one hand, and all the material for its interpretation on the other. As regards the critical notes, I have very commonly added the readings of MSS. which have practically no independent value, partly to remove doubt as to the independent readings, and partly as evidence of the relationship of the various MSS. In a very few cases the readings of these secondary MSS. appear alone, because I sometimes found, after having returned the primary MS., that I had not specially noted its reading, and so became doubtful, even after careful collation, whether its reading after all agreed with that of the rest. I always remember what a German friend said to me many years ago in regard to assuming that a MS. has a particular reading unless a special statement to the contrary is made: 'ich traue Ihr nicht!'-When the MSS. of a whole group agree (as to which there is occasionally some doubt, since Mitra does not always note the readings of his MSS.), I simply indicate this by A or B. These symbols, however, never include m¹. In the case of emendations or doubtful readings I state my reasons pretty fully, it being so much easier to refute an error when this is done. As to the illustrative notes, d