I N JC. 



"•ion- of certam vegetables, unknown to us. Du Halde 



rves, tliat the Chinefe have inks of different goodnefs and 



e ; that the mod eflential difference proceeds from 



r ' quality of the lamp-black, and that tlie beft is the 



'.••r^t of oil, burnt in lamps, in apai-tments fitted up for 



t!ii' pm-pofe. 



Tho Chinofe have often attempted to ufe this in their 

 porcelain, to give the colour of black to the figure traced 

 in white veffels, but it has been a vain attempt ; for how- 



■ beautiful and ftrong the figures might appear when firft 

 :i, and even when the veffels were dried, it all difap- 

 rcd on the baking, 4nd they came out quite white as 

 t' .y were put in. The colours for this ufe mail be fuch 

 aa can penetrate the \-<iriiifli,- and endure the fire. Mineral 

 colours are found to have tliefe qualities, and thefe alone 

 theieioiv are to be employed ; fuch light ones as this black 

 buniii'g off from the furface, and wholly difappearing. Obf. 

 !ur les Coutumes de 1' Afie,p.-32Q. 



fsK is alio an appellation gi\-en to any coloured liquor 

 v.lej in the fame manner as black ink ; as red, green, blue, 

 -L How, &c. inks. Aif</ writing ink is prepared by infufing 

 a quarter of a pound of the rafpings of Brazil wood for 

 two or three days in vinegar ; boiling the infufion for an 

 feour over a gentle fire, and afterwards filtering it, wliile hot, 

 through, paper laid in an earthen cullender ; then put it 

 again over die fire, and diffelve in it,-firil, half an ounoe of 



fum arable, and afterwards alum, and white fugar, of each 

 alf an ounce. Red ink may be alfo made of vermilion, bv 

 beating together the glair of four eggs, a tea-fpoonful of 

 wliite fugar, or fugar-candy, powdered, and as much fpirit 

 of wine, till they be of the confillence of oil ; then adding 

 fuch a proportion of vermilion as will produce a red colour 

 of fufficient ftrength ; the mixture (liould be kept in a fmall 

 phial, or welUlopt mk bottle, and well Ihook before it 

 be ufed. Gum-water is often ufed inftead of the glair of 

 eggs; but thm fize made of ifinglafs, with a little honey, is 

 much better for the purpofe. Red ink may be made by 

 tempering the folution of copal with red fulphuret of mer- 

 cury, e.g. take of oil of lavender, 120 grains, copal, in 

 powder, 17 grains, and red fulphuret of mercury, 60 grain;, 

 diffolve the copal in the oil, and then mix the fulphuret with 

 the folution upon a fmooth furface. This, and a!fo tlie black 

 ink made with copal, poflefs a permanent colour, and other 

 effential properties of the ink ufed in printing. The oil of 

 lavender being diffipated with a gentle heat, the colour is 

 left on the paper furrounded with copal, a fubftance iu- 

 feluble in -.vater, in fpirits, in acids, or in alkaline folutions. 

 For red printing ink,, fee Printing. 

 Green ink may be made, by putting an ounce of pow- 

 dered verdigris to a quart of vinegar, and Itraining the 

 fluid, after it ha* ftood two or three days : or, inllead of 

 this, the cryllals of verdigris diffolved in water will anfwer 

 the purpofe ; then diffolve in a pint of either of thefe 

 folutions, five drams of gum arable, and two drams of white 



Blue ink is made by grinding indigo with honey and the 

 whhe of eggs, and making it fluid with water. 



Tello'M ink is made by an infufion of faffron in water, with- 

 a little alum and gum arabic : or, by boihng two ounces of 

 Avignon, or French berries, in a quart of water, with half 

 an ounce of alum, till one-third of the fluid be evaporated, 

 and then diffolving in it two drams of gum arabic, and one 

 dram of fugar, and afterwards a dram of powdered alum. 



I-n general, inks of all colours may be made by ufing a 

 fiioug dcco^ion of the ingredients ufed for dyeing, miNcd 



with a little ahim and gum arabic. Sec the feveral colour 

 Blue, Gkkf.k, &c. 



Inks, Synipalhtlk, or Sca-el. Every fort of liquor with 

 which a perfon may write, fo that the letters do not appear 

 till there is fome particular means ufed to give them a colour 

 different from that of the paper, is called by the name of 

 fytnpathelic ink ; and of this there are a great many kinds 

 dcfcribed in the writings of Baptifta Porta, Lemcry, and 

 otiier authors. 



AW thefe inks may be regularly diftributed into different 

 claffes, according to the different means which are to be ufed 

 t-o n>ake them appear ; and thefe arc in general the four fol- 

 lowing. I. By giving a new hquor, or the vapour of new- 

 liquor, a place on the papir, on which the letters arc written 

 with the natural invifible ink. 2. By expofing the paper to 

 the air, by which means the letters at firft invifible will ap- 

 pear. 3. By paffing gently over the letters a matter of 

 fome remarkable colour reduced to fine powder. And 

 4. By expofing the paper to the fire. 



This lall is by much the beft method, and is fo general, 

 that it may be prudently ufed to all papers fufpected of con- 

 taining any fecret writing, as it feldom fails to difcover it. 

 All the common inks of this kind, however, when they have 

 been once made to appear, either by fire or by s.uy other me- 

 tliod, can never be made to difappear again ; but there is 

 one kind deferibed by Mr. Hellot, in the Memoirs of the- 

 Acaderay of Sciences at Paris, and fince tried many times 

 with us, and elfewhere, which, though the letters it gives are 

 in themfelves invifible. and appear like thofe of fome other 

 of thefe inks, on their being held to the fire, yet they after 

 that win fade and- difappear- on the paper again, and may. be 

 reproduced in this manner feveral times. This, therefore, is 

 tlie firft known ink of a fifth general clafs, of which fu- 

 ture refearches may difcover perhaps more. 



Of the firft clafs of fympathetic inks, or thofe which do 

 not appear till the paper on which they are written be made 

 to imbibe another liquor, or the vapour of another liquor, are 

 the following kinds. 



To two or three parts of unflakedlime put one of yellow 

 orpiment ; powder and mix the two, adding fifteen or fix- 

 teen times as much water as there was orpiment ; flop up tlie 

 phial with a cork and bladder, and fet it in warm embers* 

 (hake the phial now and then for five hours, and wariiy de- 

 cant the clear part, or rather filtrate it. In the room of this 

 preparation may be ufed a faturated folution of common 

 brimftone, made by boiling the brimftone either with quick- 

 lime, or in ftrong alkaline ley. In the mean time, burn a 

 piece of cork thoroughly, and when well inflamed, quencli 

 it in common water, or rather in brandy. Being thus re- 

 duced into a friable coal, grind it with fair water, wherejn 

 gum arabic has been diffolved ; and it will make a liquor as 

 black as the common ink. 



While thefe are doing, diflolvc, in three times as much 

 diftilled or ftrong vinegar, over warm embers, a quantity of 

 red lead,- or of- faccharum faturni, in thrice the quantity of 

 water, for three or four hours, or till the liquor have a fweet 

 tiiftc. This liquor will be as clear as common water. Solu- 

 tions of lead in aquafortis anfwer the fame end, except that, 

 when written with, they are apt to corrode the paper. 



The hquors thus prepared, write any thing on paper v.-ith 

 this laft fort, dry it, and nothing will appear. Over the 

 place, write what you pleafe with the fecond liquor : it will 

 appear as if written with common ink : when dry, dip a 

 fmall piece of rag or fpunge, in the firft liquor, rub it over 

 the written place, and the black writing will vanilh ; and that 

 wrote with ike inviiible ink will appear black and legible. 



Again 



