ness, durability and beauty, and rendered unchangeable in color under the action of the chlorides, acids, &c., by the intermixture of a small quantity of the very finest carbon, in the form of an impalpable powder. But, the great difficulty is—that the carbon clogs the pen, and renders the ink too thick to flow easily, so that it can never be used for rapid or ordinary writing. We can not give, in our own words, a better account of this matter than we find in the language of a very learned author in the Edinburgh Review, (volume 48, Dec. 1828).
The article here cited is entitled "The Recovery of Lost Writings," and is nominally a review of [1]Gaii Institutionum Commentarii: [2]Institutes de Gaius, recemment decouvertes dans un Palimpseste de la Bibilotheque de Chapitre de Verone. [3]Jurisconsulti Ante-Justinianei reliquiae ineditae, ex codice rescripto Bibliothecae Vaticanae, curante Angelo Maio, Bibliothecae ejusdem Praefecti. The article begins on page 348 of this volume of the Review.
We quote from page 366;—"The ink which the ancients generally used, was composed of lamp-black mixed with gum, as we are informed by Dioscorides and others, who give the receipt [recipe?] for making it. Ink of this kind may be
