Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1883-04-05


ANC1rSr SrkTIOaEgY.-Ts Il not
strange, In these days of cheap
stationery. 20 think Of time when
both parchment and papyrus had
become so rare and 50 exorbitant-
Nv expensive that both Greeks and
Romans we're In the habit Of us-
ing q parlimesest, which was SIM
ply an old manuscript with former
writing erased. Tins countless
works Of authors now celebrated.
and whose every word is held
priceless in this nineteenth centu-
~, were destroyed by their con-
temporarIes- Verify those proph-
cts lacked honor. Many were the
expedients res0Fted to by the ear
~ scribes for a supply Of writing
materials. There was no Rcrib-
bling paper Wherein to jot down
trivial memoranda or accounts;
but the heaps Of broken pots and
crOckery Of all Sorts which are so
abundant in all Eastern towns,
proved the firstsuggestion for such
china tablets and states aswe now
use, and bits Of smooth stone or
tiles were constantly USED for this
purpose and remain to this day.
Fragments OF ancient tiles TINS
scrubbed on (such tiles as that
whereon EzeIziel was commanded
to portray the city Of Jerusalem)
have been found In many places.
The island OF Elephantine, in the
Nile, is said TO have furnished
more than a hundred specimens
Of these memoranda, which are
now in various museums. One of
these is a soldiers leave of.ab-
sence, scrubbed on the fragment
of an old vase. How little those
scribes and accountants foresaw
heinTerest withwhich the learned
descendants of the barbarian of
the isles would one day treasure
their rough notes.
Still quainter were the writing
materials of the ancient Arabs,
who, before the time Of NOLAN
med, used, to carve. their annals
on the shoulder blades of sheep;
these sheep-bone chronicles"
were strung together, and thus
preserved. After awhile, sleeps
bones were replaced by sleeps
skin. aud the manufacture of
parchment was brought to such
perfection as TO place it among
the refinements OF art We hear
Of vellums that were tinted yellow;
others white; others were dyed a
rich purple, and the writing there
ON was in golden ink. with gold
borders and many cOlored decora-
tions. -t....
These precious manuscripts were
anointed with OF of cedar to
preserve them from moths. We
hear of one such, in which the
name Of MOhammed is adorned
with gaFlands of tulips and carna-
tions painted in vivid colOrs. Still
more precious was the silky pa
per Of the Persians, powdered with
gold and silver dust, wlereon were
painted rare Examinations, while
the book was perfnmed with altar
OF roses or essence of sandal-wood.
OF the demand for writing ma
terials, one may form soGle faint
notion from the vast manuscript
libraries Of which records have
been preserved as having been
collected by the Caliphs both
of the East and West-the former
in Bagdad, the latter in Andalusia
where there were eighty great
public libraries, besides that vast
/ one Mt Cordova. We also hear, of
private libraries, such as that of
the physician who declined an in
vitation from the Sultan of Box
hara, because the carriage of his
books would have required 400
camels. II all the physicians Of
Bagdad were equally literary, the
city would scarcely have contain
ed their books, as we hear that the
medical brotherhood numbered
n sas