(1701) Sand .After these my modest considerations , I received some gleaming sands , and that from an old gentleman , a kinsman of mine , who had been presented with the said sand in the year 1648 by a book - keeper of the East India Company , and which sand had been brought to our country in an East - Indiaman .And I also remember that about that time I often saw written letters being strewn with such sand , in order that the writing should not be blotted .