The Princeton union., 1900-11-08
THE FIRST INDIA INK
IT WAS ACCIDENTALLY MADE BY A
CHINESE ALCHEMlST. II

CHINESE ALCHEMlST. =
Like Many Other Things Which Have
No Relation Whatever to Their
Names, India Ink Has No Connec-
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
it has a rather extraordinary history.
Like many other things which have
no relation whatever to their names,
india ink has no relation whatever to
Indih. The Irish potato it is said ia
cetiously, is so called because it was
found first in Peru. Therefore india
ink may have been SO named because
it was made first in China, where the
bulk Of it has been made ever since.
Also, like most other things Of prac-
tical utility to mankind, india ink was
not an invention, but a discovery-that
Is to say, the individual who produced
it first did so entirely by accident,
without the remotest intention Of doing
anything sensible or useful.
About 5000 years before the Chris
tian 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 ENTHUSIASTICALLY con-
cOcted a black substance in the form
Of liquid paint or varnish. 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 we'll as
bone OF 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 a
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 we'll seasoned.
1t is not Stated whether sepia, the
c0loring liquid of the cuttlefish, was
added to the ink originally or not; but,
as the best india ink in use at present
has brownish tint as if mixed With
sepia, it is evident that sepia is used
now in the manufacture of the ink.
Sepia alone is used frequently in China
In preference to the black ink.
AS soon as it was discovered that in
dia ink was likely to be serviceable to
mankind it was perceived by the i'm
perial diet to be Il dangerous innoya-
tion upon the established custom of
''not'' having it to use. The empire
had got along very we'll without india
ink prior to it's discovery, and it was
Chinese public policy ''to let we'll
enough alone" Therefore the use of
the ink was declared to be sacrile-
gious, and it's manufacture was pro-
hibited
Apparently there were "millions" in
india ink in those days, for sharp
competition in it's production arose,
and this was the beginning Of trouble
for artists and craftsmen. The market
was glutted with worthless grades. At
| first the ink was superfine in quality,
| and the lampblack used in it was
ground into an impalpable powder so
| fine that it was as volatile as vapor
and possessed in itself an odor of
musk. Later, when competition cor
rupted i& production, coarser and
cheaper pigments We're substituted for
the fine ones, and the ink was arti-
ticially perfumed with musk in order
to disguise it's inferiority. -.
The Chinese are passionately fond Of
musk, and india ink was used by them
not only as writing material but
also as a flavor for their choicest bev-
erages. \ little india ink rubbed in
water was considered then a delicious
drink, but modern india ink can hard
ly be recommended as safe medium
for interior decoration of that sort.
We are Informed by the distinguish
ed historian that all "good' india ink
is inhabited by gods. Qn China there
are so many gods that it is difficult to
find lodgings for them all; they are
billeted, therefore, upon any conyen-
lent article, such as a stick Of india
ink) From this startling disclosure of
the historian we might be justified in
presuming that all ''bad' india ink is
inhabited by devils This view Of the
matter would account for the multi
tudinous trials and tribulations which
beset the unhappy craftsman who tries
to make drawing with poor india
ink, for certainly in unmitigated wick
edness and total depravity india ink
has few equals and no superiors.--
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