Page:The History of Ink.djvu/67

Rh The Edinburgh Review refers to Pliny and Dioscorides, as furnishing directions for the manufacture of ink. The Edinburgh Reviewer says "receipts,"—not recognizing the broad distinction between a receipt and a recipe. The former of these two words was originally intended to convey the idea that the person who signs the paper has got something: the latter word, or its representative initial (℞) means simply, "take."

The directions of Pliny are in the following words:—

Atramentum quoque inter factitios erit, quanquam est et terra geminæ originis. Aut enim salsuginis modo emanat, aut terra ipsa sulphurei coloris ad hoc probatur. Inventi sunt pictores, qui e sepulcris carbones infectos effoderent. Importuna haec omnia, et novitia. Fit enim e fuligine pluribus modis, resina vel pice exustis. Propter quod, officinas etiam aedificavere, fumum eum non emittentes. Laudatissimum eodem modo fit e tedis. Adulteratur fornacum balnearumque fuligine, quo ad volumina scribenda utuntur. Sunt qui et vini faecem exsiccatam excoquant; adfirmantque, si ex bono vino faex fuerit, Indici speciem id atramentum praebere. Polygnotus et Micon celeberrimi pictores Athenis, e vinaceis facere: tryginon appellant. Apelles commentus est ex ebore combusto facere, quod elephantinum vocavit. Adportatur et Indicum, inexploratae adhuc inventionis mihi. Fit etiam apud