UP to the present time the _form_ of the Rigveda, that curious collection of ancient Indian poems which has long engaged the attention of scholars in India and Europe, has remained an inscrutable mystery. The 1,017 hymns follow one another in ten books or sections, but no one has hitherto detected any system in their arrangement. Mr. Frederic Pincott, however, has, the _Manchester Guardian’s_ London correspondent says, just discovered the hidden method, and his discovery promises to give a new impetus and direction to Vedic studies. He has found that the first book of the Rigveda is a selection of hymns arranged in the order of their recitation at the offering of an oblation to the sacred Soma Juice. The next six books are family collections, containing the poems of particular poets and their relatives; whilst the eighth book contains hymns omitted from previous books. The ninth book is filled with hymns celebrating the praises of the Soma Juice, and the last book contains hymns ascribed to mythological authors. When the poet, the deity, the length, and the metre are known, the hymns are found to have a methodical arrangement. A full exposition of Mr. Pincott’s curious discovery is about to be given in the _Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society_. A BIBLE which contains two signatures that profess to be written by Shakespeare has turned up at Manchester. It was bought about thirty years ago by the late Mr. William Sharp, a somewhat eccentric collector, who was firmly convinced of the authenticity of the signatures, but rarely showed the book. Its present custodian exhibited it the other day to a number of gentlemen at the Manchester Free Library, including Prof. A. Ward, Mr. Alexander Ireland, Mr. C. W. Sutton, Mr. J. H. Nodal, and Mr. W. E. A. Axon. One signature is on the inside of the end cover, and reads “William Shakspere off S × o × A his Bible 1613.” The other is on the reversed title of the New Testament, and reads “William Shakspere 1614.” The volume contains the Old Testament, Apocrypha, New Testament, and Psalms of the “breeches” edition of 1611, but some of the earlier leaves are gone. There are many names of other possessors from about 1633 downwards, and one entry appears to indicate that the volume has been rebound and a Prayer-Book taken from it. In this case the signature now on the end leaf may have been transferred to the new binding. As to the authenticity of the signatures it would be impossible to speak with confidence without the application of more searching tests. They do not resemble any of the five undoubted signatures, but they are both marvellously like that on the title-page of Florio’s Montaigne now in the British Museum. The present custodian of the “Shakspere Bible” purposes, we understand, to accept the advice tendered to him of submitting it to a critical examination at the British Museum.--_Public Opinion._ [Illustration: text decoration] Antiquarian Correspondence.