I N K. 
juft to flow fufficiently from the pen. The liquors wrote 
of a fine black colour ; but, when dry, part of the colour 
could be rubbed off, efpecially in nioift weather, and a 
pencil dipped in water waffled it away entirely. I tried 
folutions of the aninial-glues with the fame event. Ifin- 
o-lafs or fi(fl-glue being the moft difficultly diffoluble of 
thefe kinds of bodies, I made a decoCtion of it in water, 
of fuch ftrength that the liquor concreted into a jelly be¬ 
fore it was quite cold ; with this jelly, kept fluid by fuf- 
ficient heat, I mixed fome ivory-black ; characters drawn 
■with this mixture on paper bore rubbing much better 
than the others, but were difcharged without much diffi¬ 
culty by a wet pencil. 
“ It was now fufpeCted that the colour could not be 
fufficiently fixed on paper without an oily cement. As 
oils themfelves are made mifcible with watery fluids by 
the intervention of gum, I mixed fome of the fofter pain¬ 
ters’ varnilh, after-mentioned, with about half its weight 
of a thick mucilage of gum arabic, working them well 
together in a mortar till they united into a iinooth uni¬ 
form mafs; this was beaten with lamp-black, and fome 
water added by little and little, the rubbing being conti¬ 
nued till the mixture wa* diluted to a due confidence for 
writing. It wrote freely, and of a full brownifti-black 
colour; the characters could not be difcharged by rub¬ 
bing, but water waffied them out, though not near fo 
readily as any of the foregoing. Inftead of the painters’ 
varnilh or boiled oil, I mixed raw linfeed-oil in the fame 
manner with mucilage and lamp-black; and, on diluting 
the mixture with water, obtained an ink not greatly dif¬ 
ferent from the other. Though thefe oily mixtures an- 
fwered batter than thofe with Ample gums or glues, it 
was apprehended that their being difchargeable by water 
would render them unfit for the purpofes intended. The 
only way of obviating this imperfection appeared to be, 
by ufing a paper which fliould admit the black liquid to 
fink a little into its fubftance. Accordingly I took lome 
of the more finking kinds of paper, and common paper 
made damp as for printing ; and had the fatisfaftion to 
find, that neither the oily nor the Ample gummy mix¬ 
tures fpread upon them fo much as might have been ex¬ 
pected, and that the characters were as fixed as could be 
defired, for they could not be walhed out without rub¬ 
bing off part of the fubftance of the paper itfelf. 
“ All thefe inks mult be now and then ftirred or fhaken 
during the time of ufe, to mix up the black powder, 
which fettles by degrees to the bottom; thofe with oil 
mud be well fhaken alfo, though not ufed, once a-day, or 
at leaft once in three or four days, to keep the oil united 
with the water and gum ; for, if once the oil feparates, 
which it is apt to do by (landing at reft for fome days, it 
can no longer be mixed with the thin fluid by any agita¬ 
tion. But, though this imperfect union of the ingredi¬ 
ents renders thele inks lefs fit for general ufe than thofe 
commonly employed, I apprehend there are many occa¬ 
sions in which thefe kinds of inconveniences will not be 
thought to counterbalance the advantage of having writ¬ 
ings which we may be allured will be as lafting as the 
paper they are written upon. And indeed the inconve¬ 
nience may be in a great'meafure obviated by ufing cot¬ 
ton in the ink-ftand, which, imbibing the fluid, prevents 
the feparation of the black powder diffufed through it. 
“ All the inks however, made on the principle we are 
now fpeakin'g of, can be difcharged by walhing, unlefs the 
paper admits them to fink into its fubftance. The anci¬ 
ents were not infenfible of this imperfection ; and fome- 
times endeavoured to obviate it, according to Pliny, by 
ufing vinegar, inftead of water, for tempering the mixture 
of lamp-black and gum. I tried vinegar, and found it 
to be of fome advantage, not as giving any improvement 
to the cement, but by promoting the linking of the mat¬ 
ter into the paper. As this walhing-out of the ink may 
be prevented by ufing a kind of paper eafy enough to be 
procured, it is fcarcely to be conlidered as an imperfection; 
and indeed, on other kinds of paper, it is an imperfection 
VqLi XI. No, 734. 
Gl 
only fo far as it may" give occafion to fraud, for none of 
thefe inks are in danger of being otherwife difcharged 
than by defign. The vitriolic inks themfelves, and thofe 
of printed books and copper-plates, are all difchargeable ; 
and it is well known that printed paper has been lo com¬ 
pletely bleached by a (patent) chemical procefs, that 
fuch paper has been ufed for printing frelh works ! 
“But a further improvement may yet be made, namely, 
that of uniting the ancient and modern inks together; 
or ufing the common vitriolic ink inftead of water, for 
tempering the ancient mixture of gum and lamp-black. 
By this method it flrould feem that the writings would 
have all the durability of ’thofe of former times, with all 
the advantage that refults from the vitriolic ink fixing 
itfelf in the paper. Even where the common vitriolic 
mixture is depended on for the ink, it may in many cafes 
be improved by a fmall addition of the ancient co’mpofi- 
tion, or of the common Indian-ink, which anfwers the 
fame purpofe; when the vitriolic ink is dilute, and flows 
fo pale from the pen, that the fine llrokes, on firft writ¬ 
ing, are fcarcely vifible, the addition of a little Indian-ink 
is the readieft means of giving it the due blacknefs. By 
this admixture it may be prefumed alfo that the vitriolic 
ink will be made more durable, the Indian-ink in fome 
meafure covering it, and defending it from the aftion of 
the air. In all cafes, where Indian-ink or other fimilar 
compofitions are employed, cotton fliould be ufed in the 
ink-ftand, as already mentioned, to prevent the fettling 
of the black powder.” 
Since the invention of printing, much lefs attention 
than formerly has been paid to the making of ink, fo that 
now the art feems to be in a great meafure loft. This 
will appear from a comparifon of fome ancient manuferipts 
with the writings of modern times. It being of the ut- 
moft importance, however, that public records, wills, and 
other valuable papers, which cannot admit of being 
printed, fliould be written with ink of a durable quality, 
this inattention feems to have been very culpable, and a 
reftoration of the method of making writing-ink a very 
valuable acquifition. “The neceffity (fays Mr. Aftle) of 
paying greater attention to this matter may readily be 
feen, by comparing the rolls and records that have been 
written from the 151I1 century to the end of the 17th, 
with the writings we have remaining of various dates 
from the 5th to the 12th centuries. Notwithstanding the 
fuperior antiquity of the latter, they are in excellent pre- 
fervation ; but we frequently find the former, though of 
more modern date, fo much defaced that they are fcarcely 
legible.” Origin of Alphabetical Writing. 
This author agrees with Dr. Lewis in the opinion that 
the ancient inks were compofed of foot or ivory-black 
inftead of the galls, copperas, and gums, which form the 
compofition of ours. Befides their black inks, however, 
the ancients ufed various other colours, as red, gold and 
filver, purple, See. Green ink was frequently ufed in 
Latin manuferipts, efpecially in the latter ages ; and it 
was frequently employed in fignatures by the guardians 
of the Greek emperors till their wards were of age. Blue 
or yellow ink was feldom u(ed except in manuferipts ; 
but (fays Mr. Aftle) “ the yellow has not been much in 
ufe, as far as we can learn, thefe 600 years.” Some kinds 
of characters, particularly the metallic, were burniffied. 
Wax was ufed by the Latins and Greeks as a varnifli, but 
efpecially by the former, and particularly in the 9th cen¬ 
tury. It continued a long time in vogue. 
A treatife upon inks was publiffied by Peter Canipa- 
rius profefl'or of medicine at Venice; of which an edition 
was printed at London in 1660. It is divided into fix 
parts. The firft treats of inks made from pyrites, (tones, 
and metals; the fecond of fuch as are made from metals 
and calces; the third from foots and vitriols; the fourth 
of the different kinds of inks ufed by the librarii or 
book-writers, by printers, and engravers; likewife of 
ltaining or writing upon marble, ftucco, or fealiolia, and 
of encauftic modes of writing ; alfo of liquids for paint- 
R ing. 
