198 Sir Humphry Davy on the papyri 
No. 1. ico parts of a pale chesnut papyrus lost 45 parts. 
No. 2. 100 parts of a decomposed papyrus, ches- 
nut-coloured, but darker, lost - - 43. 
No. 3. 100 parts of a very black papyrus lost 42. 
No. 4. 100 parts of a pale papyrus, extremely 
loose in texture and partly converted 
into white ashes, lost - - -41. 
No. 5. ico parts of another of the same kind lost 38. 
When the whole of the carbonaceous and vegetable matter 
of the papyrus was destroyed by slow combustion, the white 
ashes remaining, which were principally carbonate of lime and 
lime, proved to be from T %- to ~ of the original weight of the 
papyrus ; and in those specimens which were most dense, and 
that contained a white powder, the proportion of ashes was 
greater, and a larger quantity was insoluble in acids. 
Ammonia was found in the products of all the papyri that 
I distilled, but least in those which contained no distinct cha- 
racters ; from which it is probable that it arose principally 
from decomposed glue used in the manufacture of the ink, 
and which had been principally dissolved and carried off in 
those papyri which had been most exposed to the action of 
water. 
I ascertained, that what the Neapolitans called varnish, 
was decomposed skin, that had been used to infold some of 
the papyri, and which by chemical changes had produced 
a brilliant animal carbonaceous substance ; this substance 
afforded abundance of ammonia by distillation, and left ashes 
containing much phosphate of lime. 
