200 Iff. Nyayaratna — On the Authorship of the Mr ichchh aha tiled. [Aug. 



VYunana's age is much older than that of Dandin is unquestionable. 

 It follows therefore that Dandin could by no means have been the 

 author of the Mrichchhakatikd. More remarkable still is the fact that 

 Vamana not only mentions S'udraka, but quotes passages from the 

 Mrichchhakatikd itself. This hardly leaves any doubt that the Mrich- 

 chhakatikd is anterior to the time of Dandin. Moreover, the author of 

 the Vrihat Sdngadharapaddhati quotes several verses from Kdvyddarsa 

 ascribing the authorship of each of them to Dandin ; but when quoting 

 the verse, f%*q#fa etc., he does not mention the name of Dandin as its 

 author. This conclusion is very much strengthened by a comparison of the 

 style of the Dasahumdra Charita with that of the Mrichchhakatikd. It 

 leaves no doubt that the two works could not have proceeded from the 

 pen of one and the same writer. The Dasahumdra abounds in long sa- 

 mdsas, unusual verbal inflections, and inversions of the regular position 

 of words in sentences. The Mrichchhahatihd, on the other hand, even 

 in its prose portion, is written in quite a simple and easy style. Pro- 

 fessor Pischel holds that " The state of life as described in Mrichchha- 

 hatihd is precisely the same as that in the Dasahumdra Gharita." This 

 opinion is hardly tenable. The hero of the Mrichchhahatikd is a man 

 of true nobility of nature, truthful, generous, gentle, and brave. The 

 play gives a vivid description of different phases of society including 

 a very graphic account of the administration of justice. The moral 

 tone of the Dasahumdra is distinctly lower. The tales are full of 

 low love intrigues, and are sometimes conceived in very bad taste 

 indeed. 



In fact a careful perusal of the two works, Mrichchhahatikd and the 

 Dasalcumdra, would, I feel sure, convince every candid reader that they 

 could hardly have been written by one and the same author. 



It is needless to examine the other arguments advanced by Profes- 

 sor Pischel. They do not seem to me to have much weight. If his 

 main argument is untenable, the subsidiary arguments will hardly be of 

 any avail. 



I trust I have said enough to shew that neither Babu Asutosh 

 Mukerji nor Professor Pischel has succeeded in establishing each his 

 theory regarding the authorship of Mrichchhakatikd. 



7. The Mean temperature of the deep sea waters of the Bay of Ben- 

 gal, from observations taken on board H. M.'s I. M. Steamer " Investiga- 

 tor"— By Commander Alfred Carpenter, R. N., D. S. O., F R Met 

 Soc. F. Z. S. 



This paper will be published in the Journal, Part II. 



