Abstract
LITERA scripta manet; but the permanence of the writing depends upon the quality of the ink. Certain papyri of ancient Egypt, now deposited in the British Museum, contain the earliest ink-written records so far brought to light. A roll dating from 2500 B.C. still bears decipherable characters, and fragments of papyri have been found by Prof. Flinders Petrie in a tomb to which the date 3500 B.C. is ascribed. If the origin of the use of ink is lost in antiquity, at least one thing is certain—the writing-fluid used by the ancient scribes for such records as the foregoing must have possessed in a high degree the property of durability.
Inks: their Composition and Manufacture.
By C. Ainsworth Mitchell T. C. Hepworth. Pp. xiv + 251; with 46 illustrations, including 4 plates. (London: Chas. Griffin and Co., Ltd., 1904.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
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SIMMONDS, C. Inks: their Composition and Manufacture . Nature 71, 269–270 (1905). https://doi.org/10.1038/071269b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/071269b0
