He could not identify the sign for _l_; no doubt because there was no corresponding sound in the Persian by which he was guided, and he thought that no syllable began with _m_. He considers all the syllables begin with a consonant, though he detected two possible exceptions, where the syllables appear to be _as_ (Nos. 8 and 82). Neither of these are in reality exceptions, but there are numerous other instances where the vowel is the initial. None of his syllables exceed two letters, though later investigation has shown that there are several cases where a vowel separates two consonants. He noticed that the syllabic sign was frequently replaced by two signs to express the simple consonant and the vowel. He observed the peculiarity that the language knows of no difference between the sounds of _m_ and _w_, both being written with the same letter; and he also showed that the sonants are generally absent, for while _k_, _p_, _t_ are represented, he could not find _g_, _b_, or _d_. He saw that the consonants are sometimes doubled in the middle of a word; and he conjectured that this form was adopted to indicate the distinction. Thus, he thought the syllabic sign for _pi_ might express either _pi_ or _bi_; but if preceded by the alphabetical sign for _p_, the two together denoted the surd. At a time when the affinities of the language were entirely unknown St. Martin had given it the name of Median, no doubt under the supposition that it was allied to Persian and spoken by the Median branch of the common Aryan race.[629] The investigations now concluded by Westergaard showed for the first time that its affinities were with the Scythic or Turanian family of languages, and the inconvenience of retaining the name of Median first became apparent.[630] There could be no doubt that the Median conquerors were Aryans, as may be shown from the names of their leaders, and their close relationship to the Persians in race and language was accepted by all the early historians as self-evident. It is clear, therefore, that the language of the second column is not theirs, yet Westergaard determined to adhere to the name of Median as its most appropriate designation. He was led to adopt this course chiefly because there appeared to be no other district except Media where it could have been spoken, and also because its graphic system seems to indicate contact with Assyria. There can be little doubt that his decision was fully justified at the time, and, to avoid unnecessary confusion, in referring to the earlier writers we have in this chapter generally followed their description of the language of the second column as Median. On the other hand, modern discovery has tended to increase the importance of Susa, by showing that at least a portion of its territory had become the hereditary dominions of Cyrus, before his accession to the Persian throne. At the same time the connection between the language