65 
105 Ink, PERMANENT. The following is from the Records of Sci- 
ence, translated from the Annales de Chemie. Mr. Braconnot, 
of Nancy has published a receipt for ink, which he says an- 
swers extremely well in Botanic Gardens, and in open or wet sit- 
uations where names are required to he preserved permanently. 
Take of 
Verdigris, 1 part. Soot, ^ part. 
Sal ammonia, 1 ]>art. Water, 10 parts. 
Mix the powder in a glass or porcelain mortar, adding at first 
one part of water, in order to mix them well, then add the re- 
mainder of the water. Shake the ink well from time to time. 
When it is to be used we must write with it upon a plate of zinc, 
and after some days it becomes hard, and cannot be obliterated 
by atmospherical influence or by rubbing. The ink may be 
tinged by any color, by substituting for the soot or lamp black 
some mineral colouring matter. Zinc Tallies are easily pro- 
cured, as this metal is now rolled into thiii sheets for covering 
buildings, and other uses, in lieu of lead ; it being both lighter 
and cheaper; and not liable to decay by oxidation. 
106 Marble to preserve. It has long beeen matter of regret, 
that polished marble cannot be lully exposed in our northern 
latitude without immediate injury and ultimate destruction. 
But for this circumstance white marble would prove a valuable 
adjunct to the buildings and embellishments of the first class of 
ornamental gardens. Some experiments have lately been made 
and explained in evidence, before the committee of arts and 
manufactures, by 3Ir. John Ilenny, from which their is every 
probability that a coating may be so applied to marble as to 
preserve it for a great length of time. Wax is the substance 
used, and this he believes to be almost indistructable under at- 
mospheric influence alone. He has tried in on the frieze of the 
Athenseum, Hyde Park Corner, with complete success. A 
piece of polished marble was first submitted to experiment. A 
little melted wax was applied to a part of it, with a camel-hair 
pencil, and the marble warmed till it absorded the wax. After 
being exposed during a whole winter, the polish on the unpro- 
tected part was destroyed, but where the wax had been ap])lied 
it was uninjured. If the wax be dissolved in turpentine it pen- 
etrates to a greater depth into the marble, but this was thought 
unnecessary, as the wax alone was observed to sink into it to the 
133 AUCTABIUM. 
