t ”3 ] 
palm long, and round j which appeared like roots 
of wood, all black, and feeming to be only of one 
piece. One of them falling on the ground, it broke 
in the middle, and many letters were obferved, by 
which it was firft known, that the rolls were of 
papyrus. The number of thefe rolls, as I am told, 
were about 1 50, of different fizes. They were in 
wooden cafes, which are fo much burnt, as are all 
the things made of wood, that they cannot be 
recovered. The rolls however are hard, though each 
appears like one piece. Our king has caufed infinite 
pains to be taken to unroll them, and read them }■ 
but all attempts were in vain ; only by flitting fbme 
of them, fome words were obferved. At length 
Signor Affemani, being come a fecond time to 
Naples, propofed to the king to fend for one father 
Antonio, a writer at the Vatican, as the only man in 
the world, who could undertake this difficult affair. 
It is incredible to imagine what this man contrived 
and executed. He made a machine, with which, 
(by the means of certain threads, which being 
gummed, ftuck to the back part of the papyrus, 
where there was no writing), he begins, by degrees, 
to pull, while with a fort of ingraver’s inftrument he 
loofens one leaf from the other (which is the mofl: 
difficult part of all), and then makes a fort of lining 
to the back of the papyrus, with exceeding thin’ 
leaves of onion (if I miflake not), and with fome 
fpirituous liquor, with which he wets the papyrus, 
by little and little he unfolds it.' All this labour 
cannot be well comprehended without feeing. With 
patience fuperior to what a man can imagine, this 
good father has unrolled a pretty large piece of pa- 
VoL. 49. Q_ pyrus, 
