It is usual to see in old manuscripts, that are highly ornamented, letters of gold which rise considerably from the surface of the paper or parchment containing them in the manner of embossed work; and of these some are less shining, and others have a very high polish. The method of producing these letters is of two kinds; the one by friction on a proper body with a solid piece of gold: the other by leaf gold. The method of making these letters by means of solid gold is as follows: "Take chrystal; and reduce it to powder. Temper it then with strong gum water, till it be of the consistence of paste; and with this form the letters; and, when they are dry, rub them with a piece of gold of good colour, as in the manner of polishing; and the letters will appear as if gilt with burnisht gold." (Kunckel, in his fifty curious experiments, has given this receipt, but omitted to take the least notice of the manner these letters are to be formed, though the most difficult circumstance in the production of them.) CHAPTER XXII. INK INDUSTRY. IMPORTANCE OF HONEST INK MANUFACTURE--ABSENCE OF INFORMATION AS TO NAMES OF MOST ANCIENT INK MAKERS,--WHERE TO LOOK FOR ANCIENT INK--THEIR PHENOMENAL IDENTITY--INK AND PAPER AS ASIATIC INVENTIONS ENTER EUROPE IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY-- BOTH IN GENERAL USE IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY--MONKS AND SCRIBES AS THEIR OWN INK MANUFACTURERS--MODERN INDUSTRY OF INK BEGINS IN 1625--ITS GROWTH AND PRESENT SITUATION--THE GENERAL IGNORANCE OF THE SUBJECT--INK INDUSTRY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY--THE FIRST PIONEERS ABROAD AND THOSE AT HOME--OBSERVATIONS RESPECTING INK PHENOMENA OF THE PAST EIGHTY YEARS--WHAT SOME INK MAKERS SAY ABOUT IT--LITTLE DEMAND FOR PURE INKS--SOME SKETCHES OF THE LEADING INK MANUFACTURERS OF THE WORLD--ESTIMATION OF QUANTITY OF INK MADE IN THE UNITED STATES--THE "LIFE" OF A MARK MADE WITH ORDINARY WRITING FLUID--ESTIMATION OF MOST INKS BY PROFESSORS BAIRD AND MARKOE--FORMULA OF THE OFFICIAL INK OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS--VIEWS OF SOME PROMINENT INK MANUFACTURERS ABOUT SUCH INK--SOME COMMERCIAL NAMES BESTOWED ON DIFFERENT INKS--THE 200 OR MORE NAMES OF INK MANUFACTURERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. THE consideration of the effect of the use of ink upon civilization from primitive times to the present, as we have seen, offers a most suggestive field and certifies to the importance of the manufacture of honest inks as necessary to the future enlightenment of society. That it has not been fully understood or even appreciated goes without saying; a proper generalization becomes possible only in the light of corroborative data and the experiences of the many.