June 1, 1865.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



MINERAL SUBSTANCES FOR WRITING ON. 507 



proved such a superior writing material as to inaugurate a new era, 

 supplanting the papyrus plant together with the silver and other styles, 

 introducing the goose-quill instead of the latter, and even retaining its 

 position as general writing material throughout the middle ages. The 

 ancients wrote the immortal works of their genius upon parchment 

 rolls, and in subsequent periods the industrious monk, sitting in his 

 lonely cell, by transcribing them, rescued them from annihilation. His 

 laborious work preserved the light of a new cultivation upon yellow 

 parchment. 



The use of the Egyptian paper survived until the eleventh century 

 and was then entirely superseded by the invention of paper made from 

 cotton, which was introduced into Europe by the Arabians. At last the 

 Germans, about the year 1 270, hit upon the idea of using flax and hemp, 

 and the result was the production of our present paper. The first 

 paper-mill was erected at Niirnberg in the year 1330, and it was soon 

 found that worn-out linen, clothes, and rags were the proper materials 

 for paper-making. Since then the manufacture of paper has remained 

 essentially the same down to the present time, only that by means of 

 machinery alone are we now enabled to meet the enormous annual 

 demand -of some 500,000,000 lbs. of paper. 



This cursory glance illustrates how many changes writing-material 

 has undergone from its first rude beginnings, from the original use of 

 the natural rock, burnt tilesf and slaty stones, down to the paper we 

 now use. It is also remarkable that the most ancient, primitive, and 

 simple writing-material, the thin slatey stone, after being laid aside 

 and forgotten for thousands of years, should now in more modern times 

 find an universally extending demand. And this demand is a more 

 peaceful and friendly one. Whereas the ancient Greeks in their public 

 tribunals and ostracisms availed themselves of small stone tablets 

 or tiles in awarding their sentences of life and death, our children now 

 practice with the slate-pencil upon the slate the first rudiments of edu- 

 cation, for they belong to a period that endeavours to render education 

 an instrument for the common good of mankind. 



Lithography, or writing on stone, is one of the most useful modes of 

 making facsimile copies of letters, circulars, &c, in use. 



The materials of the mineral kingdom require, however, the treat- 

 ment of the engraver rather than the writer. 



Metal tablets, coated with wax, have been found in the ruins of 

 Pompeii and Herculaneum. On these the ancient Romans wrote with 

 the style, a sharp-pointed instrument several inches long ; indeed, the 

 same kind of pen which is used by reporters of the present day, when 

 making their " flimsy " for the Press, or manifold copies on tissue with 

 inked leaves between. 



The ancient Jews also engraved records which they wished to be 

 permanent directly on metal plates. Metal tablets or books, consisting 

 of massive leaden leaves, must have been not only among the most 



