544 Proceedings of the Rofjal Irish Acadetnt/. 



text of BFsli is closer to A than is that of CF^. Let us now see by 

 this test the affinities of P. 



1. {a) Reppuli sugere mammellas eorum A. 



lleppuli sugire mammas eorum B. 

 (h) Repulis fugire mammas illorum F3R. 

 {c) Repulsus sum fugere amicitias illorum CF4. 

 {d) Repuli fugere manus illorum P. 



2. {a) Canes eorum repleti sunt A. 

 {b) ,, reuelati BF3R. 

 {c) Carnes releuati CF4P. 



In the case of the variants in § 18 it seems reasonable to suppose 

 that manus of P is the link between mammas and amicitiasy i.e. that 

 amicitias is a gloss on manus rather than on mammellas or mammas. 

 It may also be noted that the II of mammellas explains the change of 

 eorum to illorum. 



It would, however, be quite wrong to suppose that these test pas- 

 sages prove that B generally presents a more ancient type of text than 

 P. On the contrary, P has more numerous traces of A than B has ; 

 it has many more blunders, but it is not only a considerably more 

 ancient ms., but it is, on the one hand, quite unsophisticated — whereas 

 B has been edited — and, on the other hand, its blunders are not the 

 blunders of C or of F3. The great value of P consists in this, that it 

 enables us to separate the ancient elements in B and C and F3 from 

 the later improvements or corruptions which disfigure those mss. 

 Until P was known it was impossible to know which of the unique 

 readings of B were really ancient and which were merely the improve- 

 ments of its editor-scribe. Consequently, by following CF4 geuerally, 

 where A was not available, we Avere able to present a text nearer by 

 far to the original than if B had been preferred on account of its 

 sporadic agreements with A. 



An excellent illustration of the value of P in sifting readings will 

 be found in Conf. § 42, where B reads thus: — " Insinuauit namque 

 nobis responsum accepisse a nuntio Dei, et monuit earn ut permaneret 

 uirgo Christi et sic Deo proximaret." Of the italicised words nuntio 

 alone is found in F3 ; CF4 omit ?iamque, and read in the other places : 

 7iutu . . . etiam . . . esset . . . ipsa. We learn now from P that earn 

 and nuntio are the ancient elements in B here; its three other readings 

 are editorial improvements. We have also here in etiam an instance 

 of the frequent aberrant combination of CF3F4, while F3 presents a 

 characteristic idiosyncrasy in reading uirffo uirgo for uirgo Christi. 



