PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION 



The evidence to be weighed in judging this question is of so in- 

 tricate and so disputed a character, as Dr. Hort has well said, that it 

 seems necessary to discuss at greater length than we would have 

 desired the sources and affiliations of the manuscripts, both in the 

 Greek and in the versions, which form the authorities upon which 

 our conclusions are based. 



While an endeavor has been made to give a reasonably adequate 

 presentation of the textual evidence, the writer is aware of the im- 

 portance of other evidence, which, while it has not been discussed, has 

 nevertheless been considered in the reconstruction of the history of 

 the conclusions of the Gospel according to Mark. 



