The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1871-06-20

ancient. 1t IS traced back to the Pe
gamus, who first used parchment exte
sively, and was generally adopted aft,
the time of Augustus, except among Il
ancient Orientals. Only small numb,
Of extant old manuscripts are in roll
which is called the Egyptian mode
binding.
Julius Cesar introduced the method {
folding letters and dividing them int
pages, in the style of modern books. Th
Romans preserved their more preciou
books in cedar boxes. Hence the phrase
"worthy of the cedar The oil Of ceda
was also rubbed over books to preserv
them. Tralscribing was the only ancicn
process Of multiplying books.
The ancient literature would have bee
wholly lost, had it not been for the Chris
tian religion and the institution of monas
terlcs. In the dark ages, the monks wer
the onl y transcrbers Few laymen coul,
write even their own names; they mad
their mark. Charlemagnc, and severa
other European monarchs of those times
could not write. The monasteries beins
respected in war, were also safe deposito
ries for books Besides copying, the art
OF embellishing or illuminating was prac.
ticed by the monks.
The monks, however, destroyed many
valuable writings, by obiterating them
and using the same parchment for writing
or copying works Of less or no value
The revival Of letters put stop to this
destructive process. Ciccro's de Remblica
was thus washed out and written orer, but
was restored by a chemical process. A
commentary ofSt. Augustine on the Psalms
had been written over the erased or wash
ed-out writing Of Cicero, and the venera-
tion in which the saint was held, probab.
ly contributed to the preservation of the
manuscript.
10 the invention Of printing by nova
BILE types we owe much, especially the
blessing OF newspapers and magazines.
Two Hunters among the Sierra Neva-
das.
BY CLARENCE KING.
A couple Of hunters, with their rifles
over their shoulders, seeing the smoke of
our campfire followed it through the
woods and joined our circle. They were
typical neutrality-suspicious. from so.
ciety, discontented with the world, com.
forting themselves in the solitude of ma.
ture by the occasional excitement of
bear-fght. One was a half-breep Chero.
kee, rather over six feet high, powerfully
built, and picturcsquely dressed in buck
skin breeches and green jacket; sort of
Trovatore hat completed his costume and
gave him an animated appearance. The
other was Enthusiastically Pike County
ian, who had dangled into pair of but
ternut jeans. lis greasy flannel shirt
was pinned together with thorns in lieu
of buttons, and his hat, having lost its
stiffness by continual wetting, was fasten-
ed back in the same way. The Cherokee
had long manly stride, and the Pike a
rickcty sort Of shuttle. His anatomy was
bad, his physical condition worse, and
think he added to that a sort of pride in
MS own awkwardness. Seeming to have
1 principal Of suspension somewhere about
his shoulders which maintained his head
1T the right elevation above the ground,
he kept up a good rate in walking with
'ut apparently making an effort. His
body swayed with peculiar corkscrew
notion, and his long Mississippi rifle
vavel to and fro through the air.
We all noticed the utter contrast be.
ween them, as these two men approach
ID our fire. The hunters tacituruity is a
vell-known role, but they had evidently
lved so long an isolated life that they
we're too glad of any company to play it
so it was they who opened
he conversation. We found that they
we're now campcd only half.mile from
Is, were hunting for deer-skins, and had
lready accumulated a very large number.
hey offered us plenty of vcnison, and
'erc greatly interested in our proposed
ourneys into the high mountains. From
hem we learned that they had themsel-
es penetrated farther than any others,
nd had only given up the exploration
iter iruitless wandering among the can I
ms for month. They told us that not
ven Indians had crossed the Sierras to
nc east; and that if we did succeed in
caching this summit, we would certainly
C the first We learned from them also
nat mile to the northward was great ;
erd Of cattle in charge of n party of {
iexicans. Fleeing before the continued
routh of the plains,all the cattle-men of
aliiornia drive the remains of their
arved herds either to the coast or to the
Ugh Sicrras, and Craze upon the summer
asturcs, descending in the autumn and {
wing upon the dry ioot-hil grasses until
nder the influence Of winter rains, the
lains again clothe themselves with pas
lragc.-From the Atlantic Monthlg far '
une