Sound in the Ruins of Herculaneum. _ 429° 
tained, and in examining about 120 others, which afforded no~ 
hopes of success; and I should gladly have’ gone’ on' with the’ 
undertaking, from the mere prospect of a possibility of discover- 
ing some better results, had not the labour, in itself difficult and 
unpleasant, been made more so by the’ conduct of the persons 
at the head of this department in the Museum. At first, every 
disposition was shown to promote my researches ; for the papvri 
remaining unrolled were considered by them as incapable’ of af- 
fording any thing legible by the former methods, or, to use their’ 
own word, disperati ; and the efficacy and use of the new pro- 
cesses were fully allowed by the Svolgatori or unrollers of the 
Museum; and I was for sume time permitted to choose and 
operate upon the specimens at my own pleasure. When, how- 
ever, the Reverend Peter Elmsley, whose zeal for the promotion 
of ancient literature brought him to Naples for the purpose of 
assisting in the undertaking, began to examine the fragments 
unrolled, a jealousy, with regard to his assistance, was iinme- 
diately manifested; and obstacles; which the kind interference 
of Sir William A’Court was not always capable of removing, were 
soon opposed to the progress of our inquiries; and these obsta- 
cles were so multiplied, and made so vexatious towards the end 
of February, that we conceived it would be both a waste of the 
public money, and a compromise of our own characters, to pro- 
ceed, 
4thly. Some general Observations. 
The Roman MSS, found in the Museum, are in general com- 
posed of papyrus of a much thicker texture than the Greek ones, 
and the Roman characters are usually larger, and the rolls much 
more voluminous; the characters of the Greek MSS., likewise, 
with a few exceptions, are more perfect than those of the Latin 
ones. 
From the mixture of Greek characters in several fragments of 
Latin MSS., and from the form of the letters and the state of 
decomposition in which they are found, it is extremely probable 
that they were of a very ancient date when buried. 
I looked in vain amongst the MSS. and on the animal char- 
coal surrounding them, for vestiges of letters in oxide of iron ; 
and it would seem from these circumstances, as well as from the 
omission of any mention of such a substance by Pliny, that the 
Romans, up to his period, never used the ink of galls and iron 
for writing: and it is very probable, that the adoption of this 
ink, and the use of parchment, took place at the same time. For 
the ink composed of charcoal and solution of glue can scarcely 
be made to adhere to skin; whereas the free acid of the chemi- 
cal 
