The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1902-07-04
LIFE OF NIANUSCRIPTS.
LASTING QUALITIES OF VARIOUS PAPERS
AND INKS.

The Pope at one time invited chem
lists and librarians from every part OF
Europe to meet at Einsiedlen Abbey,
| in Switzerland, and talk about paper
and ink. To the unlnitiated it may
| have seemed tremendous machinery
for such an object, but, in fact, the
matter is very grave. The records o!
this generation will disappear in a
time which can be estimated unless the
materials for writing be improved
and the time is not distant either. 1t
is stated that the Pope submitted a
number of documents from the archives
of the Vatican which arc scarcely de-
cipherable, though dated in the present
century. Perhaps things are worse in
Italy than elsewhere even, for it was
an incident at Rome which first called
public attention to the evil: those con-
cerned had long been aware of it, OF
course. Certain returns were de-
manded in Parliament, referring to the
condition {, : IT," am y iii 1870: when
the war office rroduced item they
were iIlegible In twenty-five years
or so the ink had faded ard the paper
decomposed. This was an extreme
case as it turned out after inquiry, but
all the records had dcierioiatcd in an
alarming manner.
In some countries, perhaps, greater
care has been used in selecting the
quality of paper and ink. but it is adj
mitted that the best will not endure
| like the writings of o,d. This is re-
buke to our conceit This age is
scientific in nothing. AS Sir Archi
bald Geikie reminded us the other day.
it confidently estimates tie age OF tie
solid armament wtereon we live. One
faction, indeed, puts it at tonr hundred
million years, and another at score OF
millions only. hut both are equally
confident They reach their conclu-
sions by weighing the sun, and com
putting its heat in past ages, reckoning
the friction of the tides and the effect
thereof from the beginning OF things
and SO on. But the men WHO can work
out these awful problcms-not to speak
OF "wrclcss ;elesraphy y" and the Rocnt-
gen rays-rannot make paper oqna! to
that OF iivc thousand Years ago, nol
ink such as was used IN the Dark Ages
SUPERIORITY oE ANCIENT PAPER.
To the unirarned it seems very curl
Gus. Paper manufacturers try every
substance they can hear OF which
makes pulp. In earlier times they
were content with one. the papN rus:
when that supply failed, with rays
Thercwith, Ivy the simplest process
they produced material with which
our best cannot compare, though VT
search the universe for aid. But the
case OF ink is still more remarkable
There arc no secrets Of composition II
the ancient article, 50 far as we have
heard Oak trees still bear gals il
abundance, and ACIDS have not changed
their nature.
1t may be concluded that the moi
Of old were more careful in the prepl
ration when each made his own ink; Oh
they had simple secrets which oul
manufacturers lack patience to discover
If they trouble about. The bright
ness and the durability Of painters
colors arc lost in the same way. Sill
Joshua Reynolds pictures, little more
than a hundred years old, cannot be
made to last much longer, unless re
painted; those masterpieces at St
Petersburg which have not been touch
cd are covered with grca: brown line:
a quarter of an inch wile, as by a net
work. Bat the visitors to BRUCE:
sees McmlinI's works, of the fifteenth
century, as clear and As bright ahso
lutcy V as when they let the easel. The
savants found Il notable specimen 0
the antique skill at Ensiedlen-on,
which points the mo"al with peculia
force.
An individual whose name, nation
ality. occupation, and even date, arr
not recorded, once Travelled to Rome
He had the enthusiasm of 4 bora ar
cheolo.ist AMI an infinite capacity 70
taking pains. And 50 The good maj
employed himself in measuring and de
scribiny the edilices of the city-abov,
) all, in copying the inscriptions. AnC
thus he left an inestimahle register O
facts, for the buildings, though alreadl
ruined, of ecu s., might be called pei
feet by comparison with their stat,
at the present time We never hat
the qualification OF bchoding that pre-
cious MS, but it must be legible, a
least, seeing that every writer who
deals at hand with the antiquities o
Rome refers to it as authority. Ii
: the reconstruction Of the Forum, pul
sued with great interest nov, 9Th
Einscdlen MS and the shattered
Plan of Rome in the Capitol, flrnisI
: almost the sole m rans for rcconclin.
dubious illusions nal by classic his
torians AMI others Anl scholar
agree that it mist have been writer
f in the ninth ccntury-.han 4 thousan,
years ago.