126 Mr, Burufill on Gopijing Inscriptions. [June, 



all these methods are defective, and that only two ways are really trust- 

 worthy — one applicable to inscriptions on stone, and the other to those on 

 metal. 



2. " Firstly, for inscriptions on stone, I recommend impressions on 

 stout, unsized paper, such as is now manufactured at Paris for the use of 

 Egyptologists. The inscription must, first of all, be quite cleared of dust, 

 mud, or other obstructions, and this may be best done by a hard clothes- 

 brush. The paper is then to be rapidly but uniformly wetted in a tub of 

 water, and applied to the inscription, and forced into the irregularities by 

 repeated and forcible strokes with a hard brush ; an ordinary clothes-brush 

 is as good as any for the purpose. If the stone be clear of dust, the paper 

 adheres, and when dry falls off, forming (if at all well done) a perfect mould 

 of the inscription. Paper large enough to cover most inscriptions is easily 

 to be had ; in the ease of very large ones, it is necessary to lap over the 

 edges of the sheets, and apply a little gum and water or weak paste to 

 them ; and also to prevent those sheets first applied from falling and thus 

 spoiling the rest, a few poles or sticks leaning against the corners in large 

 inscriptions, or the gum used for joining will be found enough. When 

 properly dried, copies made in this way (in French, " estampages") may be 

 rolled up or put in blank books without the slightest injury, and even will 

 stand damp. M. Mariette-Bey and Dr. Brugsch both assured me in Egypt 

 last year that they never found this plan fail. 



3. " The second process is applicable to inscriptions on plates of metal ; 

 I devised it several years ago, and never found it fail. The plate or plates 

 should be carefully cleaned with a dry brush, and the letters occasionally 

 must be cleared out with a blunt graver. The native process of rubbing the 

 plates with acid and then putting them in the fire to loosen the encrustations 

 should never be resorted to, as it invariably injures them fatally. From the 

 cleaned plate an impression (reverse) is to be next taken by passing a roller 

 charged with ink over the plate, and then printing from it as from an 

 ordinary copper plate. From this impression another may be talcen by 

 means of an ordinary copper-plate press ; and, with a little practice, a 

 perfect facsimile may be thus obtained, the letters being white and the rest 

 of the plate appearing a dark grey. Photozincography and many other 

 methods exist by which ' estampages' and facsimiles made b}'- the last 

 process may be multiplied to any extent." 



Also a letter from the Secretary to the Government of India, Eevenue 

 Department, forwarding copies of the following circular of Her Majesty's Com- 

 missioners for the London International Exhibition of 1874, and enquiring 

 whether the Society could render any assistance in furtherance of the objects 



