The various species of papyrus plants belong to the natural order "Cyperaceae," or sedges, of botanists; a main characteristic of which is a certain triangularity of stem. The method of constructing a writing surface from these stems was as follows:--The available portion being cut off (it was seldom more than twelve inches in length), and split, or, more properly speaking, unfolded into thin sheets, which were glued together transversely in such a manner that the original length of the papyrus stem became the breadth of the future sheet; the length of which might be increased at the pleasure of the operator. Frequently the manufactured scrolls were more than thirty feet long. As different methods prevail in the manufacture of our ordinary paper, so in like manner there were different processes of fashioning the papyrus into shape. The rudest manufacture appears to have been that of Egypt, and the best papyrus sheets appear to have been made in Rome during the Augustine AEra. The preceding sketch represents a papyrus roll, copied from a specimen in the Egyptian Room of the British Museum. Considering the numerous pieces entering into the composition of the roll, of which our illustration represents a portion, the lines of juncture are remarkably well concealed, only a sort of grain being visible. The surface, moreover, is smoothed, and its colour very much like that of India paper. The hieroglyphics are coloured as is usual, red is the predominant tint, and the colours are no less well demarcated and separate than they would have been on glazed paper. Our preceding wood-cuts represent the Sicilian or Syrian papyrus, hitherto termed _cyperus papyrus_, in two states of development--one with flowers, the other without. In order that inflorescence may take place, the plant requires to be well supplied with water. EXECUTION IN 1733.