by Sir H. Davy. 303 
finely divided charcoal suspended on a solution of gum or glue, 
wherever the water percolated continuously the characters were 
more or less destroyed. Vegetable matter becomes decomposed 
by moisture, first brown, then black ; and by long continued ac- 
tion of air, the charcoal itself is at last destroyed, leaving no- 
thing but the earths which entered into the constitution of the 
vegetable substance : when not exposed to air or moisture, still 
the decomposition goes on, but more slowly, and in the course 
of ages the carbonaceous matter only remains. 
Of the MSS. the greater part are brown, and still contain some 
of their volatile substance, or extractive matter, which occasions 
the coherence of the leaves ; others are almost entirely converted 
into charcoal, and their leaves (when not too much crushed) may 
be readily separated by mechanical means. Of a few, little re- 
mains except the earthy basis, and the charcoal of the characters, 
that of some of the leaves being destroyed. 
The number of MSS. and of fragments originally brought to 
the Museum at Naples, where Sir Humphry examined what re- 
mained, was 1696; of these 88 have been unrolled, and found 
ina legible state ; 3 19 more have been operated upon, and found 
not to be legible: and 24 have been presented to foreign poten- 
tates. Among the 1265 that remain, the greater number con- 
sist of small fragments, or of mutilated or crushed MSS., pre- 
senting but little hope of being separable in distinct leaves ; from 
80 to 120 are in a state much more promising, and to which Sir 
Humphry’s chemical process is applicable. The process he hase 
not yet published. 
Of the SS MSS. that have been unrolled, excepting a few 
fragments in which some Latin verses were found, the great body 
consists of works of Greek philosophers, or sophists : 9 are of 
Epicurus, 32 bear the name of Philodemus, 3 of Demetrius, | of 
Colotes, | of Polystratus, 1 of Carniades, and 1 of Chrysippus : 
and those whose authors’ names are unknown are upon natural 
or on moral philosophy, medicine, criticism, arts, life and man- 
ners. 
Sir Humphry suggests that a systematic attempt should be 
made to examine in detail all the MSS. that contain legible cha= 
racters. ‘The name of the author has generally been found in 
the last Jeaf unrolled ; but two or three columns at the begin- 
ning would enable a scholar to judge of the nature of the work, 
and bya single fold it might be ascertained whether it was prose 
or verse, history, physics, or ethics. He thinks that by employ- 
ing one enlightened Greek scholar to direct the undertaking, one 
to superintend the chemical part of the operation, and 15 or 20 
persous for the mechanical labour of unrolling and copying, there 
is every probability that in a year, and at an expense of from 
2500/. 
