Two essays entitled, "Licking the Platter: Niche Differentiation in Sexes of Dioecious Plants" and "An Introduction to Shang Epigraphy" are this year's winners of the annual Bowdoin Prize competition, Lucy White, a spokesman for the Prize Office, said yesterday.

The essays were written by Paul A. Cox, a graduate student in Biology, and Robert W. Bagley '67, a graduate student in Fine Arts, respectively.

A committee of five professors representing a wide variety of academic fields chose the two 7500 word papers from among 39 entries competing for the $1500 prize, White said.

"I though I had zero chance," Cox said. "I looked at some of the old papers which are bound in the archives; they were so good that it really depressed me," he added.

In his essay, Cox asserts that different sexed plants utilize different resources. He goes on to suggest that this division in resources has led to these plants' evolutionary success.

Bagley's essay describes archaic Chinese writing and instructs the reader how to translate it into English.

"I was very pleased" about winning, said Bagley, who wrote his essay two years ago as an aid for students in his Fine Arts tutorial on Chinese Bronze Art.

The Bowdoin Prize was established in 1745 at the bequest of James Bowdoin, who graduated from the College in 1745, and was increased by the bequest of George S. Bowdoin in 1901.