138 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



and of a fine texture, but not durable or so well 

 adapted for writing upon as the paper which is now 

 made from linen rags. In consequence of some 

 passages which occur in the authors of antiquity, 

 disputes were once maintained as to the fact whe- 

 ther the art of making paper from linen was not 

 merely revived in modern ages. The conclusion of 

 these discussions seems, however, to prove that the 

 art of converting linen into this substance was wholly 

 unknown to the ancients, and that the libri lintei, or 

 linen books, mentioned by Livy, Pliny, and other 

 Roman writers, were pieces of linen cloth or canvas, 

 prepared in the manner of oil-cloth. 



The epoch is somewhat uncertain at which linen 

 rags were converted to that substance, the exten- 

 sive use of which has so importantly tended to the 

 civilization of man, and which is the means of con- 

 stantly diffusing knowledge, and therefore happiness 

 throughout the world. 



We find that in the year 1762 M. Mierman felt so 

 much anxiety to ascertain this point, that he was 

 induced to offer a reward for the discovery of the 

 most ancient manuscript written on paper made of 

 linen rags. Documents were produced in conse- 

 quence, which induced him to fix the commence- 

 ment of this manufacture as having occurred between 

 the years 1270 and 1302. A specimen bearing a 

 date prior to this period has, however, been subse- 

 quently discovered, and is preserved in the imperial 

 library at Vienna. It is a charta seven inches long 

 and three inches broad, written in the year 1243. 

 Mr. Schwandner, an Austrian nobleman, who was 

 principal keeper of the imperial library, affirms in an 

 essay which he has written on the subject of this 

 curious relic, that it is at least half a century older 

 than any other specimen hitherto discovered*. 

 * Macphersou. 



