PREFACE. This edition of the Apastamba Srauta Sutra will be complete in four volumes. At the end will be added the indices necessary for such a work. The detailed investiga- tion of the sources of the Apastamba Súta and its position among the ritual-books of Ancient India I shall reserve for the introduction to the last volume, the publication of which will place the entire material in the hands of Sanskrit scholars for criticism. By that time, too, we may hope for the completion of Dr. Schroeder's edition of the Mai- tráyaní Samhitá, a highly important work, and one which has had a decided influence on Apastamba, aliriya-curi- ously enough-he does not mention the name ste this Samhitá, as he does that of many other Vedic writings. I shall accordingly limit myself here to the description of the manuscripts to which I have thus far had access. 32. I. Manuscripts of the Text. A. India Office Library, No. 1651. Praśnas 1-7 and 9-15, on 227 paper-leaves. In Devanagari characters The place and date have been expunged after completion of the MS. It is ancient, very carefully made, and has been corrected several times. At the end of every prasna, there are given first the beginnings of each kandiká in reversed order, and then the beginnings of each patala in the actual order. This system or a similar one is also followed in most of the other MSS. The leaves 96 110 inclusive, which contained praśna 8, are missing A later interpolated leaf about two thirds of it covered with writing-which, like the first lent. C
