The implements used for writing necessarily varied in the different ages and diverse civilizations according to the character of the materials successively used and the nature and stage of the civilization. When inscriptions were made in stone of any sort--sand-stone, marble, granite, basalt, or other stone--or in wood, a _chisel_ was the tool. When the material used was lead, ivory, wax, or plastic clay,--bricks, tablets or cylinders--a _stylus_ was used. The stylus was made of bone, ivory, or metal, according to the requirements or tastes in the case. When the writing was with ink, upon leather, parchment, papyrus, paper, and kindred substances, a _pen_--of silver or from a reed or quill--was employed as in modern times. Pens of bronze have been found in tombs. _Brushes_, too, as in China, were used in recording literature. The "_pen-knife_," for fashioning pens from reeds or quills; the _pumice_ stone, for erasures and smoothing the material to be written upon; the _ruler_ and _compasses_, for indicating the lines of writing; _scissors_, _sponge_, and _ink-stand_ (the "writer's ink horn," Ezekiel 9:2, 3), sometimes double for different colored inks; and the _palette_, containing small hollows for the various kinds and colors of inks used, were all paraphernalia of the copyist's profession. XIV THE ART AND SCIENCE OF PALÆOGRAPHY _Palæography_ is defined as "that department of historical science which treats of ancient writing." "In the study of handwriting," it has been said, "it is difficult to exaggerate the great and enduring influence which the character of the material employed for receiving script has had upon the formation of the letters." Whether the material was clay, waxen surface, or papyrus, largely determined the formation of the letters. In the broad sense in which it is used in our discussion the term applies, not only to all written records whether upon rolls or codices and without regard to the material, or their form and content, but also includes _epigraphy_ which has to do with inscriptions on monuments or seals, and _numismatics_ which, specifically, designates the inscriptions of coins. Palæography is both an art and a science. Modern penmanship, while commonly regarded as more of an art than a science, is, in reality, less an art than a science. Indeed, in a broad and a not unwarranted generalization, present-day handwriting is seldom either an art or a science, but rather a desultory and questionable though necessary accomplishment. The invention of the typewriter has not added, in general, to the achievements of penmanship. Penmanship is one of the almost universally neglected sciences of modern times. Unquestionably, if there were more of the "science" of penmanship taught and practiced, and more time and attention devoted to its study and its cultivation, we would have more of the art of handwriting to delight our esthetic sensibilities.