146 V. A. Smith— Gold Corns of the hnj^erial Gupta Dynasty. [No. 2, 
his compeers must be considered as revivals of the ancient suvarna, and 
that this conclusion is fully warranted by General Cunningham’s own 
researches. He has devoted much time and labour to the task of as¬ 
certaining the value of the rati., by weighing the rati seeds {Ahrus pre- 
catorius") and the other kinds of seeds metrically associated with the 
rati in the Hindu books. The mean of four values of the rati deduced 
from actual weighments of the seed of the Abrus is 1'8143. General Cun¬ 
ningham himself, with the most elaborate precaution, weighed “one 
thousand sound and tolerably even-sized seeds”, with the result that the 
average weight was 1‘823 grain, and Mr. Laidlay’s weighments on his 
behalf gave practically the same result, 1’825. 
Weighments of rice and other seeds alleged in the Hindu books to 
have definite numerical ratios to the weight of the Abrus seed gave re¬ 
sults varying from 1'791 to 1’825, with a mean of 1’8044. By taking 
the mean of the two average weights above noted (1‘8143 + 1*8044 -r- 2) 
says General Cunningham, “ we obtain 1*8093 as the true value of the 
actual rati.^'* This expression is not scientifically accurate, because a 
mere arithmetical average of results obtained from experiments conduct¬ 
ed in different ways, and with various degrees of precaution, is not en¬ 
titled to be called a true value. 
It seems to me that if witnesses are to be weighed and not counted 
the nearest possible approximation to the ‘ true value’ is to be found in 
the result 1*823 obtained by General Cunningham from the truly scientific 
experiment made by himself which he describes, confirmed as it is by 
the almost identical result, 1*825, obtained by Mr. Laidlay. General 
Cunningham, therefore, on his own showing, is not justified in assuming 
1*75 grain as the value of the rati; and in 1865 he accepted the value 
1*823 grain for the rat{.‘\ Mr. Thomas arrives at the seductive figure 1*75 
by a different method. He shows, for instance, that the Hindu silver coin 
known as .purana should contain 32 ratis, and that purdna pieces actually 
in existence weigh as high as 55 grains, and then, so far as I understand 
him, jumps to the conclusion that the full weight of the purdna was 56 
grains. But I cannot see anything in his arguments inconsistent with 
* For Gen. Cnnningliam’s experiments and opinions see his paper ‘ On the Mone¬ 
tary System of the Greeks in Bactriana, Ariana, and India,’ in Num. Chron. Vol. 
XIII, N. S. (1873) pp. 187-219, especially pp. 196-7. Mr. Thomas has explained his 
views in his essays on Ancient Indian Weights {Num. Chron IV, N. 8. (1864) pp. 40-58 
and 114-132, especially p. 132.) These essays have been republished with additions 
in the International Xumismata Orientalia. 
t “ The old Indian pana or copper coin of 145*833 grains.” (Coins of the Nine 
Ndgas etc., in J. A. 8. B. Vol. XXXIY, 1865, p. 120.) Thepawaof copper corresponded 
in weight with the suvarna of gold. 
