MATERIALS TO AVRITE UPON BEFORE INVENTION OF PRINTING. 653 



cloak. In certain islands of Polynesia, and pai'ticularly in. New 

 Zealand, the tattooing of the men Avas governed hv the brilliancy of 

 their deeds. The designs, which covered the face and the body, repre- 

 sented synil)olically a description of events. Even the human skin 

 has incidentally been used to write upon. Between tanned skin and 

 parchment there was but a brief interval. In order to diminish the 

 Aveight of the leather, man first had to thin it. Then he tried to 

 bleach it — hence the origin of parchment. It is possible that it was 

 at Pergamus the improvement was made. They must have manu- 

 factured it and dealt in it there, since the product derives its iianic^ 

 from that place. It is believed that it was known fifteen centuries 

 before the present era. 



The skin of the goat, the sheep, and the ass was prepared by 

 methods nearly identical with those of our own day." The first pro- 

 <luctions of parchment were so defective that they were only used to 

 cover books made of papyrus and tablets and for labels. It is 

 only toward the fifth century before our era that the })ractice of 

 writing on parchment l>ecame general. As its preparation improved 

 its use spread uioi'c and more. After the eleventh century this 

 material entirely su[)planted papyrus, which had become rare and 

 poor. We know that books of importance, manuscript and printed, 

 are composed of parchment. I^p to the eighteenth century it was 

 always used for ro^'al acts and private transactions. 



It is from the stem of the Cypevus papyrus (paper rush) that 

 according to Baillon, jjajier was manufactured. This rush, a native 

 of Egypt, it is said, was Aery abundant u[) to the middle ages, l)ut 

 it has become rare and is not met with except on the marshy banks 

 of streams in the far south. The root, as thick as a man's arm, 

 spreads out horizontally, the stalks rise from it at right angles to 

 a height of from 7 to 10 cubits '' — that is, about 8.() to 1.5 meters. 

 The slender stem, tenuous, triangidar almost through its entire 

 length, is terminated by an umbel composed of green filaments, 

 producing a most beautiful eft'ect. But it is not in Egypt only that 

 the paj)yrus was found, it grcAv in Sicily, Spain, the southern part 

 of France, as far u}) as Avignon, in the shallows of the Rhone,'' as 

 well as in the greater part of the streams of Africa and Madagascar.'' 



« Lafaye, Art. Alcuihrana., Dictioiiii. (li>s aiitiquitr's f;roc(iiies et romaincM. 



ft The Greek cubit varied from city to city; its averai?i' length was 0.4o centi- 

 meters. 



"We gathered sonu' in 187!) near tlic gate of tlie Ou]l(> at the base of tln' 

 bridge whicli leads from Avignon to the island of Barthelasse. 



<* Poivre : Voyage d'un iihilosophe, 170.S. Bruce: Voyage eu Abyssinie, t. 

 V, i>. lU et seq. 



