INKS. 



Westrumb, Thorey, M. Bosse, of Hamburgh, have endeavoured te 

 discover a composition which would resist the action of this acid, 

 and most of them have succeeded in the attempt. The two follow- 

 ing methods are given by Bosse. 1. Boil 1 oz. of brazil-wood wi.li 

 12 ozs. of water for a quarter of an hour ; add I oz. of alum ; eva. 

 porate the whole to 8 ozs., and mix with the liquor 1 oz. of ex. 

 ceedingly soft finely pulverized manganese, mixed up with ! oz. of 

 pulverized gum-arabic ; or 2. Boil 4 oz. of Brazil wood, and 3 ozs. 

 of coarsely pulverized galls, with 9 ozs. of vinegar and as much 

 water, for the space of eight minutes ; in the liquor after being 

 strained, dissolve i^oz.of sulphet of iron, and 1 oz. of gum-arabic ; 

 and then add to the whole a solution of \ oz. of indigo in 1 oz. of 

 concentrated sulphuric acid. M. Bosse also prepared an ink from 

 the principal ingredients of common ink, but, instead of the usual 

 liquids, he employed the expressed juice of some plant : those which 

 he found most efficacious were obtained from the leaves of the caper 

 spurge, Euphorbia Lathyris, Linn, the common holly, Sambu- 

 cus Niger, and common grass. 



INK Po&der. Common liquid ink, the methodof making which 

 we have already described, is not easily transported from one place 

 to another ; and, besides this inconvenience, it is apt to dry in the 

 ink-holder. In bottles, unless well corked, it becomes decomposed 

 and evaporates ; and if the bottles happen to break, it may spoil 

 clothes, or any other articles near it. For the convenience there, 

 fore of those who travel either by land or by sea, ink powder has 

 been invented, which is nothing else than the substances employed 

 in the composition of common ink, pounded and pulverized ; so that 

 it can be converted into ink in a moment, by mixing it up with a 

 little water. 



CHI*. A or INDIAN INK, which is employed for small drawings 

 and plans, may easily be made by the folJowing process. Take the 

 kernels of the stones of apricots, and burn them in such a manner 

 as to reduce them to powder, but without producing flame; which 

 may be done by wrapping up a small packet of them in u cabbage 

 leaf, and tying round it a bit of iron wire. Put this packet into an 

 oven, heated to the same degree as that required for baking 

 bread, and the kernels will be reduced to a sort of charcoal with 

 which an ink may be made similar to that brought from China. 



Pound this charcoal in a mortar, and reduce it to an impalpable 

 powder, which must be sifted through a fine sieve, then form a 



