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 have been revealed by the God Siva himself, its author, whoever he may be, now and then blurts out hints, which clearly prove it to have been complied from preexisting works, for instance, it has not hesitated, as we find; to borrow copiously from Rasaratnákara attributed to the renowned alchemist Nágárjuna. Of this last work we have been able to obtain as yet only a fragment from the Kásmír Library; but it has been of signal use to us, as by the parallelism of its text the genuiness and authenticity of a great portion of the Rasárnava have been established.

In the present volume it has been our aim to compare and collate carefully the passages in the Mss. of Rasaratnákara, Rasárnava and Rasatnasamuchchaya, in so far as they bear on chemistry and allied subjects; in this way several important lacunæ have been filled up and many doubtful readings resored. Parallel passages have often been quoted in the foot-notes and