ON DRAWING, WRITING, AND MEASURING. 75 



that mode, which has been since adopted by all European nations, and 

 which appears to be in itself the most natural, at least for writing with a 

 pen, and with the right hand.* 



The earliest methods of writing were probably such as rather deserve the 

 name of engraving ; the letters being cut in stone, in wood, on sheets of 

 lead, on bark, or on leaves. For temporary purposes, they were formed on 

 tablets of wax, with a point called a stile, and this practice was long con- 

 tinued for epistolary correspondence, and was not wholly out of use in the 

 fourteenth century. The stile was made of metal or of bone ; its upper 

 extremity was flattened for the purpose of erasing what had been written. 

 The Egyptian papyrus is said by Varro to have been first used for writing 

 at the time of the foundation of Alexandria ; the leaves of palms, the inner 

 bark of trees, or sometimes linen cloth, having been before employed. The 

 exportation of the papyrus was forbidden by Ptolemy, and in consequence 

 of this prohibition, skins of parchment or of vellum were first applied 

 to the purpose of writing at Pergamus, for the library of king Eumenes, 

 whence they were called membrana pergamena. To make the best paper, 

 the widest and finest leaves of the papyrus were matted together, united by 

 a vegetable glue, and pressed till they became sufficiently smooth ; the 

 coarser kinds were not used for writing, but for commercial purposes. In 

 China, paper is sometimes made of a thin and almost transparent mem- 

 brane taken from the bark of a tree. Paper of cotton was introduced into 

 Europe from the east in the middle ages : it has been since superseded by 

 that which is made of linen rags, and which is also an eastern invention ; 

 but for coarse and strong paper, old ropes of hemp are also used ; and 

 sometimes many other vegetable substances have been employed. The 

 strength and consistence of paper is owing to the lateral adhesion derived 

 from the intermixture of the fibres, assisted by the glutinous size, which is 

 also of use in obviating the bibulous quality of the paper, by filling up its 

 pores.t 



Ivory, and prepared ass's skin, are sometimes employed for writing with 

 a black lead pencil ; for slates, a pencil of a softer kind of slate is used. 

 The ancient mathematicians usually constructed their diagrams on sand 

 for the instruction of their pupils. 



Pens of goose quills, swan's quills, or crow quills, were known as early 

 as the seventh century : in Europe they have generally superseded the 

 reeds which were employed for writing by the ancients : but in India, 

 reeds, canes, and bamboos, are still in use. In China a hair pencil is 

 used instead of a pen. 



* As Dr. Young distinguished himself by his researches on hieroglyphical writing, 

 we subjoin the following references to his works : Museum Criticum, 8vo, Camb. 

 vol. ii. pp. 125, 329. Hieroglyphics, fol. Lond. by the Egyptian and Royal Societies 

 of Literature. Supp. to Ency. Brit. vol. iv. 38. Discoveries in Hier. Lit. 8vo. Lond. 

 1823. A sketch of the discoveries will be found in the Quarterly Review, vol. xliii. 

 p. 112; or in Ency. Metr. Art. Hieroglyphics. See also J. F. Champollion, 

 L'Egypte sous les Pharaons, 2 vols. 8vo. Par. 1814. Lettre a M. Dacier relative a 

 *!' Alphabet des Hieroglyphics, 8vo, Par. 1822. Precis du Systeme Hierog. 8vo. 

 Par. 1824 and 1828. Lettres relatives au Musee Royal Egyptien de Turin, Par. 

 1824 and 1826. 



f Rombold on Paper, Berl. 1744. Lalande, L'Art de faire le Papier, fol. Par. 

 1761. 



