66 



which a large proportion of cotton enters, may give us some idea of the 

 defective quality of that which was prohibited by the Emperor. 



Inferior as this paper was, it has served to convey down to our times 

 many valuable manuscripts, and at the period of its invention was of 

 great utility, by reason of the extreme scarcity of parchment. The 

 scarcity of this article was such, indeed, that a common practice pre- 

 vailed of scouring or scmping out the precious productions of classic 

 authors, and replacing these by monldsh or other comparatively worthless 

 compositions. Several of these have been found in public libraries, and 

 are denominated codices rescripti, or palimpsesti. In some cases the 

 chamcters originally inscribed can be decyphered, and thus certain 

 valuable remains of antiquity have been brought to light. Not many 

 years ago the treatise of Cicero, De Bepuhlica, was in this manner 

 recovered by the industry of Angelo Mai, the learned Ubrarian of the 

 Vatican. The most antient palimpsest which I have seen is in the 

 British Museum. It consists of sheets of strong parchment, on which 

 may be traced parts of Homer s Iliad, in characters of the fifth century, 

 resembling the famous Alexandrine Manuscript. Upon the scoured 

 vellum, and at right angles with the old vn:iting, appears a Syriac treatise 

 of the fourteenth century, and the whole has been changed from a folio 

 into an octavo size, by doubling the parchment. 



The discovery of linen paper followed close after that of cotton. Its 

 superior quality was speedily acknowledged, and it continues to be so to 

 the present day. The precise period of its introduction into Europe is 

 not known ; but in the public libraries may be found many specimens 

 whose date may clearly be assigned to the close of the thirteenth century, 

 and some to an earlier period. 



II. Implements, &c.. Employed in Writing. 



The ink employed by the antients was better and more durable than 

 that which is now in use. It was composed of lamp-black, ivory-black, 

 or other fine carbonaceous powder, carefully ground with gum or glue, 

 and a little vinegar to fix the ink more durably. In some antient 

 MSS., as in the Alexandrine, corrosion has taken place, by reason of 

 too much acid having been used. This mixture being made into cakes 

 or rolls, was dried in the sun, and formed a substance similar to the 

 Indian ink manufactured by the Chinese, and still used by them in 

 writing. 



Though black was the most suitable colour for common writing, yet 

 various other colours, and consequently other substances, were employed, 

 either for the sake of ornament, or for marking certain distinctions. 

 Thus the large letters at the beginning of a chapter, the title, the 



