Page:Ancient India as described by Ptolemy - John Watson McCrindle.djvu/395

and connection of the contents of the narrative. To those stndents who have neither the learned work of Dr. Vincent, nor the Geographi Graeci Minores of C. Miiller, within reach, this handy volume will prove very serviceable. — The Academy. The careful and scholarly translations of ancient texts relating to India, which Mr. McCrindle is prepajnng in serial order, promises to be of great value. The method which he follows is in accordance with the best traditions of English scholarship As to the historical importance of these texts there can be only one opinion. History in Sanskrit literatui'e is conspicuous by its absence, so that external authorities are at once the only ones available, and at least redeem by theii' unbiassed chai-aeter their relatively deficient opportunities of information. Those who are best acquainted with the difficulties of English rule in India, are best aware that the problems of Indian administi*ation are, in fact, problems of Indian history. ... It is thus of vital importance that every possible hint and clue as to the course of the legal, social, and economical history of the country should be made available. It is the special value of Mr. McCrindle's work that it will form a solid, positive basis for the earliest period of authentic Indian history, &c. — The Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore. The fragments of the Indiha of Megasthenes, collected by Dr. Schwanbeck, with the first part of the Indika of Anian, the Periphts Maris Erythraei, and Arrian's account of the voyage of Nearkhos have been translated, in two most useful volumes, by Mr. J. W. McCrindle, M.A. The Indika of Ktesias with the fifteenth book of Strabo is also promised, and the sections referring to India in Ptolemy's Geography would complete a collection of the highest value to Indian history.— Note under the article India, in the new edition of the Encyclopcediok .Britannica. We are glad to learn that the papers by Mr. J. W. McCrindle (on Ptolemy's Geography of India) which have recently been appearing in the Indian Antiquary are to be published separately. The amount of patient and scholarly work which they indicate is of the kind that we are rather accustomed to look for from a German savant, and can hardly be properly appreciated by one who does not know by expe- rience the difficulties of such investigations. — The Scottish Geographical Magazine.