Editorial note — Chapter I · (continued 3)

Of all these Nosks, not one, except the Vendidad, has been preserved complete, and the names of three only, namely, the Setud-yesht, the Vendidad, and the Hadokht, are mentioned in the different Zand-books still extant. This shows that, at different times, changes in the forms of the written liturgy have taken place, and that the names, superscriptions, and divisions of the writings have been arbitrarily treated by different Dostúrs, without any change in the contents.

The names of the Nosks given by Hyde (343, 345), partly from the dictionary Farhang Ichangiri, partly from other sources not mentioned, are not correct nor rightly explained.

Three additional Nosks are to be brought into the world by three posthumous sons of Zoroaster. See in a subsequent note their miraculous origin and actions.

The Persian text of another Notice upon the Nosks, somewhat more complete than that published by Anquetil in Roman letters, has been edited by Messrs. Julius Mohl and Olshausen, of Kiel (see Fragmens relatifs à la Religion de Zoroastre, extraits des manuscrits persans de la Bibliothèque du Roi, 1829).—A. T.