The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1900-07-10
THE FIRST INDIA INK
IT WAS ACCIDENTALLY MADE BY 4
CHINESE ALcHEMlsT.

Like Many Other Things Whicm HMWe
No Relates whateyer 10 Theix'
Names, India Ink Has Nc coanec-s
tion with India.
For many thousand years india ink
has been to the artist and to the arti-
san the vehicle for the creation OF
much that Is interesting and Instructive
and beautiful In the world Of art, and
1t has rather extraordinary history
Like many other things which have
NO relation whatever 10 their names.
india ink has no relation whatever 10
Iudia The Irish potato II is said IA
cetiousiy, Is SO called because 1t was
found first in Peru. Therefore india
ink mag have been so named because
1t was made first In China, where the
bulk of IL has been made ever since.
Also. like most sother things Of prac-
ticaI utility 10 mankind, india ink was
not an invention. but a discovery-that
is 10 say, the Individual who produced
1t first did so entirely by accident.
without the remotest Intention or doing
anything sensible or useful.
About 1900 years before the Chris
tan era a Chinese alchemist. Tien-
Tschen by name. while experimenting
upon some nostrum for the eternal
preservation of life or upon some for
mula for converting dirt into gold-it
matters not extraordinarily con-
cocted black substance In the form
of liquid paint or varuish. This con-
coction was the first India ink.
The black pigment which forms the
base of the ink was the SCOT obtained
by burning lac and pine charcoal This
SCOT was powdered finely and mixed
with some kind OF size or glue. Fish
glue, or isinglasS. was used as well as
bone or horn glue. and sometimes, In
making the finer qualities of Ink, pearls
were boiled in glue Sometimes dried
OK tongue was added to give the Ink q
purple tint, and the bark Of the pepper
tree was used to produce a tinge OF
blue The ink was carefully nodded.
dried and packed in wormwood leaves
with lime or ashes until well seasoned
1t is not stated whether sepla. the
coloring liquid OF the cuttiehsh. was
added to the ink originally or not: but
as the best india Ink In use at presen,
has a brownish tint. as IL mixed with
sepia, 1t is evident that sepia is used
now in the manufacture of the ink
Sepia alone is used frequently In Chins
In preference to the black ink.
AS soon as It was discovered that In
dia ink was likely to be serviceable tc
mankind ii was perceived by the i'm
perial diet to be dangerous innova
ton upon the established custom oi
mot" having II to use. The empire
had got along very well without indie
ink prior to It's discovery, and II wal
Chinese public policy 1"to let vel
enough alone" Therefore the use ol
the Ink was declared to be sacrile
gious, and Its manufacture was pro
hibited.
Apparently there were millions" II
india Ink in those days, for a sharI
competition in its production arose
and this was the beginning OF trouble
for artists and craftsmen. The marke
was glutted with worthless grades. A
| first the ink was superfine In quality
and the lampblack used in 1t wa
ground into an impalpable powder s,
fine that it was as volatile as vapo
! and possessed in itself an odor o
musk. Later, when competition cor
rupted its production, coarser ant
cheaper pigments were substituted TO
ticially perfumed with musk In orde
to disguise its inferiorty.
! The Chinese are passionately fond o
musk, and india ink was used by theL
not only as writing material. bu
also as a flavor for their choicest bey
erages. A little india ink rubbed j
water was considered then O. deliciou
drink, but modern india ink can hard
ly be recommended as safe mediur
for interior decoration of that sort.
We are informed by the distinguish
ed historian that all good" india in
is inhabited by gods. Qn China ther
are so many gods that it Is difficult t
find lodgings for them all; they ar
billeted, therefore, upon any conver
lent article, such as a stick of indi
ink) From this startling disclosure c
the historian we might be justified |
presuming that all bad" india ink
inhabited by devils. This view Of th
matter would account for the multi
tudinous trials and tribulations whic
beset the unhappy craftsman who trle
to make a drawing with poor indi
ink, for certainly in unmitigated wtcl
edness and total depravity india In
has few equals and no superiors.-
Weekly Bouquet.
Children often cry. NOT from nair