Supposing even that paper was made in England in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the quantities produced here were very small and inadequate to meet the demand; hence the chief supply was of foreign manufacture even until a comparatively recent period. The tax on English paper may have interfered with its production. The Netherlands and Germany were the great paper-producing countries. It was a State privilege, and the water-marks used were either the arms of the royal patron or a crest or badge of the manufacturer, so by this means the precise locality of some of these ancient manufacturers may be ascertained. The Dutch paper bore the arms of the country--_i.e._, the lion rampant, holding the sabre in one paw and the arrows (?) in the other. The history of old paper-marks sadly needs a Chaffers or a Cripps to investigate the matter. No such collection has ever been attempted, nor has the subject hitherto met with the attention it demands and deserves. Perhaps, now that antiquarianism is becoming so fashionable, this, like other kindred sciences, will find some followers. In the _Antiquary_ magazine for November and December, 1895, may be seen two articles I wrote on old water-marks of paper. The marks were chiefly collected from the old family papers belonging to the Pulestons of Emral. These papers were, I fear, burnt after the death of my uncle, the late Sir Gresley Puleston, Bart. As regards paper and paper-making, Mr. S. L. Sotheby published a costly work. There is also a small book written by Mr. Richard Herring in 1863. Another important part of a deed is the ink with which it was written. Each scribe had his own particular receipt for making it, the principal ingredients being oak-galls and sulphate of iron. Many chemicals are recommended as restoratives for faded ink, but these should be avoided as far as possible, as they are liable to stain and disfigure the parchment, and in the end make matters worse. Familiarity with particular handwritings after some practice will enable the reader to make out otherwise unintelligible words without any other assistant than a powerful magnifying glass. If the ink is very faint the simplest and most harmless restorative is sulphate of ammonia; but its loathsome smell once endured is not easily forgotten; the experiment in consequence is very seldom repeated, for the result is scarcely good enough to risk a repetition of so horrible a smell, and it is liable to affect the MSS. Coloured inks or pigments were seldom, if ever, employed for legal documents. The use of these was restricted to the cloister, requiring manipulation by an illuminator instead of a mere scribe. Red, blue, and green were in use; these were mineral colours. The red was composed either of red-lead or oxide of iron, the green from copper, and the blue from lapis lazuli finely powdered, or else it, too, like the green, was prepared from an oxide of copper.