SCIENCE IN THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD 



form of book consisting of a long strip of thin bark, five 

 or six inches in width, and therefore closely resembling 

 a strip of Egyptian papyrus. The writing of the Battak 

 usually ornamented with pictorial designs was 

 placed in transverse columns on this strip, precisely 

 after the Egyptian manner. But they make a funda- 

 mental innovation in the art of book-making, for the 

 Battak, instead of rolling his strip of bark in the simple 

 Egyptian manner, folded it into accordion-like pleats; 

 so that it took precisely the form of a modern book 

 with leaves uncut at the edge, each column of writing 

 forming a single page. Wooden covers were then put 

 on either side of the book, the whole being sometimes 

 bound together with a piece of snakeskin. Had the 

 Battak scribe gone one step further by cutting the leaves 

 of his book and writing on both sides, we should have 

 had the exact prototype of the modern European book. 

 But, notwithstanding the obvious economy of material 

 that this expedient would have brought about, there is 

 no evidence that any Battak scribe ever utilized this idea. 

 So the Battak book, though standing one step nearer 

 to the modern form, is still imperfect. 



Curiously enough, the Aztec Indians of Mexico were 

 found in possession of books precisely of the Battak type 

 when the Europeans first invaded their territory. The 

 material of these Aztec books was a kind of paper, so 

 the Americans had, in this regard, advanced upon the 

 Battaks; but the leaves of these books, like the others, 

 remained uncut so that half the writing surface was still 

 wasted. 



We have now to inquire how, and when, the final 

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