[Illustration: FIGURE 190. CAPSA] §397. A roll intended for permanent preservation was finished with the greatest care. The top and bottom (_frontēs_) were trimmed perfectly smooth, polished with pumice-stone, and often painted black. The back of the roll was rubbed with cedar oil to defend it from moths and mice. To the ends of the _umbilīcus_ were added knobs (_cornua_), sometimes gilded or painted a bright color. The first sheet would be used for the dedication, if there was one, and on the back of it a few words were frequently written giving a clue to the contents of the roll; sometimes a portrait of the author graced this page. In many books the full title and the name of the author were written only at the end of the roll on the last sheet, but in any case to the top of this sheet was glued a strip of parchment (_titulus_) with the title and author's name upon it, which projected above the edge of the roll. For every roll a parchment cover was made, cylindrical in form, into which it was slipped from the top, the _titulus_ alone being visible. If a work was divided into several volumes (see below), the rolls were put together in a bundle (_fascis_) and kept in a wooden box (_capsa_, _scrīnium_) like a modern hat box. When the cover was removed the _titulī_ were visible and the roll desired could be taken without disturbing the others (Fig. 190). The rolls were kept sometimes in cupboards (_armāria_, §231), laid lengthwise on the shelves with the _titulī_ to the front, as shown in the figure in the next paragraph. [Illustration: FIGURE 191. READING A ROLL]