“It is an object of the utmost importance that the Records of Parliament, the Decisions and Adjudications of the Courts of Justice, Conveyances from man to man, Wills, Testaments, and other Instruments which affect property, should be written with Ink of such durable quality as may best resist the destructive powers of time and the elements. The necessity of paying greater attention to this matter may be readily seen by comparing the Rolls and Records that have been written from the fifteenth century to the end of the seventeenth, with the writings we have remaining of various ages from the fifth to the twelfth century. Notwithstanding the superior antiquity of the latter, they are in excellent preservation; but we frequently find the former, though of more modern date, so much defaced that they are scarcely legible. “Inks are of various sorts, as—encaustic or varnish, Indian ink, gold and silver, purple, black, red, green, and various other colors. There were also secret and sympathetic Inks. “The Ink used by the ancients had nothing in common with ours, but the color and gum. Gall-nuts, copperas and gum make up the composition of our Ink; whereas soot, or ivory-black, was the chief ingredient in that of the ancients; so that very old charters might be suspected, if written with Ink entirely similar to what we use; but the most acute and delicate discernment is necessary in this matter; for some of the [black] Inks formerly used were liable to fade and decay, and are found to have turned red, yellow or pale. Those imperfections are however rare in manuscripts prior to the tenth century. “There is a method of reviving the writing; but this expedient should not be hazarded, lest a suspicion of deceit may arise, and the support depended on [be] lost. “GOLDEN Ink was used by various nations, as may be seen in several libraries, and in the archives of churches. SILVER Ink was also common in most countries. Red Ink, made of vermilion, cinnabar, or purple, is very frequently found in manuscripts; but none are found written entirely with ink of that color. The capital letters, in some, are made with a kind of varnish, which seems to be composed of vermilion and gum. Green Ink was rarely used in charters, but often in Latin manuscripts, especially in those of the latter ages. The guardians of the Greek emperors [or rather the Regents of the Empire] made use of it in their signatures, till the latter [the monarchs during minority] became of age. Blue or Yellow Ink was seldom used but in _manuscripts_.[!!!] The yellow has not been in use, as far as we can learn, for six hundred years. “Metallic and other characters were sometimes burnished. Wax was used as a varnish by the Latins and Greeks, but much more by the latter, with whom it continued a long time. This covering or varnish was very frequent in the ninth century.