light, which contained twenty-four proper names, would yield results of proportionately greater importance. Indeed Lassen believed that he had by this means found the values of almost all the signs that still remained doubtful or unknown. Many other scholars had already indulged the same delusion. St. Martin boasted that his system was ‘_à l’abri de la critique_.’[437] Burnouf felt convinced that after his own labours ‘there could be no further doubt except with reference to the letters that rarely occur.’[438] Lassen was certainly more successful than any of his predecessors, Grotefend alone excepted. He can lay an indisputable claim to having correctly deciphered six additional signs; and this number may be raised to eight if, as is not improbable, he independently discovered the _k_ and _z_ of Burnouf; and to ten, if we allow two other letters to pass, the _w_ (𐎺, No. 10) and the _t_ (𐏂, No. 13), which he brought very close to their true values of _v_ and _tr_—or _ti_ as Spiegel writes it.[439] At the time we have now reached, the forty-two signs collected by Niebuhr had been reduced to thirty-three by the elimination of the diagonal and of eight others found to be defective. Lassen accounted for all the thirty-three that remained, and he added three others he found elsewhere. Of these one (𐎦) is treated by Grotefend as a defective sign for _n_; but it turned out to be a genuine letter.[440] Burnouf was the first to recognise its claim, and it figures as one of his three conjectural signs for _gh_. Lassen gives it the definite value of _g_, which was correct, for it was eventually determined as _g_ before _u_. The two other signs he added, ([Persian]) _t_ and ([Persian]) _v_, were both ascertained to be defective, and he subsequently dropped them from his alphabet. At this period, therefore, he admitted thirty-four genuine signs and two defective. His alphabet contained twenty-three correct values as opposed to the thirteen of Grotefend and the sixteen of Burnouf. It was made up of the 2 from Münter—_a_ and _b_; 10 from Grotefend—_s_ (or _ç_), _r_, _d_, _p_, _t_ (24), _u_ (36), _sch_ (or _š_[441]), _f_, _a_ (41) and _kh_ or _k_—the same as those accepted by Burnouf; 1 from St. Martin—_v_; 2 from Rask—_m_ and _n_; 2 deciphered simultaneously with Burnouf—_k_ and _z_; 6 added by himself—_i_, _t_ (22), _m_, _d_, _g_ (35), _g_ (44)— twenty-three in all. There were also two added by himself nearly correct—_w_ (10), _t_ (13), which, as approximate values, may be allowed to pass, especially in consideration of the German pronunciation of _w_. Nine were incorrect—_i_ (16), _k_ (19), _o_ (25), _z_ (26), _h_ (27), _n_ (28), _g_ (32), _g_ (33), _s_ (40).