Part 1

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Transcriber's note:

Words in fonts different from the main text, used to denote emphasis, have been surrounded by _underscores_.

Superscripts have been indicated by preceding the superscripted letters with ^. When more than one character in a row is superscripted, the letters have been surrounded by {}.

An attempt has been made to transcribe the handwritten text in plates used to show the different kinds of ink. Where the original text was unclear, dots have been used to mark illegible letters, [] surround illegible but obvious letters, and <> surround letters deleted by the original scribe.

Hyphens have been added at the end of lines where appropriate.

Macrons and tildes on consonants within the plates have not been reproduced.

Longer illegible sections were replaced by [illegible].

In some cases, a descriptive word or phrase has been added and surrounded by square brackets, for example [Hieratic text].

Some corrections have been made to the original. These are described in a second transcriber's note at the end of the text.

THE HISTORY OF INK

Including Its Etymology, Chemistry, and Bibliography.

New-York; Thaddeus Davids & Co. 127 William Street.

The History of Ink.

Ink IS history, in the common acceptation of the word; for, what is generally denominated history—is ink diffused on paper in certain definite lines. Yet ink has no history written or composed hitherto. In view of this deficiency—which betrays a singular negligence (on the part of historians and all literary men) and a thoughtless ingratitude to this indispensable means of accomplishing and preserving their work—we propose to supply the desideratum, by furnishing, on these little pages, what is indicated by the above title, in the fullest sense and widest scope of the term, including its etymology, its chemistry, and all that can be suggested and justified by the title, or fairly demanded under it, or claimed from it.

The great common error of general historians, ancient and modern, (with a very few exceptions among the moderns,) has been, that they have given to the world little else than narrations and descriptions of wars and treaties, of governmental changes and political events, omitting to record the often far more important facts in the history of literature, science, and the arts of utility, by which the progress of civilization and the development of the human race in its higher capacities have been effected or aided. The great “Instaurator of the Sciences” was the first to call attention to these omissions and deficiencies in all previous histories, and to indicate the duty of historians to avoid these errors,—setting a good example in that respect, in the specimen, or model work, which he produced as a pattern,—his history of the reign of Henry the Seventh. Since his time, many special histories of inventions and of the arts of utility have been written; and the numerous cyclopaedists have largely contributed to this object; still, however, leaving many vacancies to be filled in this department of human knowledge, of which the one before us can not be considered the least worthy of the labor needful for its investigation.

DEFINITION.

The word INK has been variously defined by lexicographers, cyclopaedists and chemists; but the following terms may be taken as fully expressing the common qualities and essential specific characteristics of all substances included under the name.

INK is a colored liquid employed in making lines, characters or figures on surfaces capable of retaining the marks so made. The Encyclopaedia Britannica, (vol. xii. p. 382, 1856,) gives the following definition: “INK.—The term ink is usually restricted to the fluid employed in writing with a pen. Other kinds of ink are indicated by a second word, such as red ink, Indian ink, marking ink, sympathetic ink, printers’ ink, etc. Common ink is, however, sometimes distinguished as writing ink.”

As to COLOR,—black is and has always been preferred in ordinary uses. For ornamental purposes and for occasionally useful distinctions, various other tints have been and are adopted—as blue, red, green, purple, violet, yellow—and so on, according to the fancy of the maker, or purchaser, or consumer.

The substance employed to receive and preserve the marks thus made is now almost universally Paper. Parchment is still used in many legal documents and writings of form and ceremony. Cotton, linen and silk, when woven into fabrics for garments and like uses, are also subjected to marks of ink for the purpose of identifying property. So are wooden and leathern surfaces in similar conditions. It is also employed in writing on stone, in the quite modern art of lithography.

Though its great original and continual employment is in writing, it must be remembered that it is also largely used in the delineation of objects by artists. Ink and paint are mutually convertible to each other’s uses, but are yet so distinct in character and objects, that no one regards the words as synonymous, and no precise definition is needed to teach the distinction between them. As, for instance, in pen-and-ink drawings and sketches, the ink serves the purpose of paint. So likewise in the letters on sign-boards, &c. paint may be considered as a substitute for ink. The artist who traces his name on the canvas in a corner of his painting, employs paint in a similar manner. Printing-ink is used as black paint. In the best red inks, carmine (a paint in water-colors) is the essential ingredient. Indian Ink is used here only as paint,—in China, as ink.

ETYMOLOGY.

The derivation of the English word “INK,” and of its representatives in various modern languages, has caused much perplexity to philologists, and has been the subject of many erroneous conjectures. We suffix the names by which it is known in those nations who have most employed it:

English, Ink.

Low-Dutch, Neder-Duytsch, Hollandisch, Inkt.

German or Deutsch, Dinte and Tinte.

Old German, Anker, Tincta, Tinta and Dinde.

Danish, Norwegian, } Blaek, (India Ink, Tusch.) Norse, Icelandic, }

Swedish, Blaeck, (India Ink, Tusk.)

French, Encre.

Old French, Enque.

Italian, Inchiostro.

Spanish, Tinta.

Portuguese, Tinta.

Illyrian, Ingvas.

Polish, Incaust.

Basque, Coransia.

Latin, Atramentum.

Mediæval Latin, Encaustum.

Greek, Melan.

Hebrew, D’yo.

Chaldee, N’kaso.

Arabic, Nikson, Anghas.

Persian, S’y’ah’o.

Hindustani, } S’yaho, Rosh’na, kali, shira, mas, and Hindui, } murakkat, kalik, midad.

Sanscrit, Kali, (Black.)

Armenian, Syuaghin.

We might amuse ourselves by extending this tabular list indefinitely. Enough, however, has been already shown to illustrate a few remarkable facts which we wish to present that are connected with the etymology of our subject; but we present a page of Lithographic illustrations which will enable any “curious reader” to trace the word further.

No dictionary of the English language gives us any help or light about the matter. Webster suggests “_inchiostro_,” (the Italian word,) as the source of derivation; and all the Italian lexicographers agree that _inchiostro_ is from the later Latin ENCAUSTUM, which is in fact Greek, Εγκαυστον, (Encauston,) “_burned-in_ or corroded.” Encaustum became corrupted into “_enchaustrum_,” from which the transition to “_inchiostro_,” is by the regular form of derivation from the Latin to the Italian,—the L before a vowel giving place to a short I—as “_piano_” from PLANUS. (The CH, in Italian is always sounded hard, like the English K.)

Leaving the French word _encre_ as on the middle ground between different etymologies, and affording no light either way,—we find the Spanish and Portugese “_tinta_,” and the German (a language widely remote from those of the Iberian peninsula in origin and affinities) “_dinte, tinte and tincta_,” forcibly reminding us of the Latin participle TINCTUS, TINCTA, TINCTUM, from the verb TINGO, which is represented in English by TINGE, and other derivatives, such as “_tincture_,” &c. We cannot refuse to recognize the Holland-Dutch “_Inkt_” as from the same root to which we have thus traced the corresponding word in a language which we may call its “cousin-German;” and it is hard to exclude the Old French “_Enque_” and modern “_Encre_” from this circle of relationship.

Then, we are somewhat impressed by the discovery of the word _Ingvas_ in the Illyrian, a language of the Slavonic (or more properly Slovenic) stock, like the Polish,—and, like that, enriched by words derived from the Latin. The Polish, however, presents us with the actual Graeco-Latin _Encaustrum_.

Still more remote from the English and Italian, we find among the Orientals of the Shemitish race, ANGHAS and NIKSON in the Arabic, and N’KASHO in the Chaldee, with a manifest resemblance in sound, and with an actual possession of the same elements and radical letters, N. K. Yet we do not think of suggesting that these words had a common origin with the corresponding ones in European Languages, though so nearly coincident in sound. The case is simply one of accidental resemblance, a remarkable coincidence,—(because occurring at three different and remote points,) but yet a coincidence not wholly unparalleled.

The probability is that the English word, like the Dutch, German, Spanish, &c., came from the Latin TINCTUM, but it may be left “an open question;” for if we had not these instances to direct the formation of our opinions, we should have no hesitation in acknowledging the Italian _Inchiostro_ as the true ETYMON; just as, if we had neither of these in view, we might suspect the origin of our word to be in the Oriental ANGHAS or NIKSON.

The Ethiopic KALAMA at first sight appears to be related to the Hindustani KALI; but the latter is merely the word in all the languages of Hindustan for black,—while the former is but a modification of the Greek and Latin CALAMUS, a _reed_ or pen,—the instrument (naturally enough) giving its name to the liquid which was essential to its use.

The word ENCAUSTUM connects, in a very interesting and instructive manner, both with the history and the chemistry or manufacture of our modern inks, and is a satisfactory demonstration of the utility of such etymological researches as those in which we have been here indulging.

The one great distinction between the ancient and the modern inks is this: The old inks were PAINTS; the writing inks now in use by all nations (excepting those of Southern Asia) are DYES. That is the whole difference.

It would be well to give a definition or limitation of the words “Ancient” and “Modern.” No one has done it hitherto. We will not attempt to fix the point precisely, but may reasonably say that the period intervening between September, A.D. 410, (when Rome was taken by ALARIC and his Visigoths) and December 25, A.D. 800, (when Karl the Great, otherwise called Charlemagne, was crowned in Rome by Pope Leo with the title of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire) contains the interval between antiquity and modern times.

The introduction of Paper as the common material upon which significant characters were to be marked must have had a great agency in producing a change in the composition of the liquid employed in making the marks.

PARCHMENT was the substance in use, among all the European nations, as the substratum of manuscript, from the time when the Egyptian _papyrus_ went out of fashion. Both the parchment and the papyrus were written upon, by Romans, Greeks and Hebrews, with pens made of small reeds, dipped in a fluid composed of _carbon_, (not dissolved, but) held in a state of suspension by an oil or a solution of gum.

The letters were originally painted on the surface of the papyrus, parchment, board, or other material so employed—the ink not being imbibed or absorbed by the substance on which it was shed, but remaining on the surface, capable of being removed by washing, scraping, rubbing, or any similar process. The surface thus cleansed was then in a state to receive a new inscription; so that erasions and inscriptions might be indefinitely repeated upon it, as upon a modern sign-board.

MODERN INK, on the contrary, leaves its marks upon paper, parchment, &c., by penetrating the material to such a depth that it cannot be erased (mechanically) without the removal or destruction of the surface which it has _tinged_. Chemical agency, as of various acids, chlorine and its compounds, is generally employed, therefore, to discharge the color from modern writing-ink-marks. CARBON, in all its common forms, (charcoal, bituminous coal, anthracite, jet, plumbago, lignite, ivory-black, lamp-black and soot,) is wholly unalterable in color by any of these chemical means.

PRINTING INK (which is composed of carbon suspended in a drying oil) is, in essential characteristics, identical with the writing-inks of the ancient Romans and Greeks. It is impressed upon the surface of paper, (that which is _unsized_ or bibulous being commonly preferred,) and is retained unchanged by the action of moisture, on account of the insolubility of the carbon and the repulsion between oil and water. These two forms of ink are therefore the exact opposites of each other, in the qualities on which their use and permanence depend. The most important peculiarity of the modern writing-ink, as contrasted with the ancient, naturally suggested the two names which it bore in the Latin and Greek of the middle ages, or (to speak more definitely,) the time of its invention and first employment. It was a _Tincta_, a DYE, or STAIN, which _tinged_ and _tinctured_ the material on which it was placed, entering among its fibres as coloring fluids do into cloth in the ordinary processes of manufacture. It penetrated the substance of the paper (as caustics or powerful chemical solvents and corrosives act on the organic fibre): it _bit in_, or _burned in_,—and was therefore well named ENCAUSTON and _Incaustum_.

CHEMISTRY or COMPOSITION of INK.

We do not propose to furnish recipes, prescriptions, directions or instructions for the manufacture of this article. No mere statement in words can enable any one to arrive at perfection, or excellence, or practical success in the production of this article, or any articles whatsoever. A skill and carefulness, which can be acquired only by long and laborious experience, are indispensable to the management of the various processes. Time is an essential element of success in this peculiar art; and that makes absolutely requisite also, two other conditions,—_patience_ and _capital_. We shall therefore be brief on this point,—referring those who wish for minute details, to the cyclopaedias, dictionaries of the arts and sciences, and the larger works on practical chemistry. The following we venture to present as the most correct account of this subject, derived from the latest scientific and practical authorities.

The composition of ink varies according to its colors, and the purposes to which it is to be applied.

COMMON BLACK WRITING-INK is the tannate of the sesquoxyd of iron mixed with a smaller quantity of the gallate of the sesquoxyd of iron. When in the liquid form, it is generally the tannate and gallate of the protoxyd; but after being long kept, (or put on the paper and drying there,) it absorbs more oxygen from the atmosphere; and thus the saline compounds become the per-tannate and per-gallate, which are blacker than the tannate and gallate of the protoxyd. It is thus and therefore that good modern ink is known by the simple test-quality of darkening by age. On the other hand, when writing becomes yellow, pale or indistinct by age, it is from the decay of the imperfectly combined vegetable astringent,—the marks on the paper or parchment being then little more than the stain of the per-oxyd (that is the sesquoxyd) of iron. If the written surface be then carefully washed or even moistened with the infusion of nut-galls, it will be rendered blacker, and if before indistinct will become legible. This may sometimes be better accomplished by first applying a weak solution of oxalic acid or very dilute muriatic (hydro-chloric) acid, and then delicately laying on the infusion of galls.

When the writing paper has been made of inferior rags, bleached with chlorine, the best ink used upon it is liable to become discolored.

Nut-gulls or gall-nuts (_Gallæ-tinctoriæ_) are excrescences growing upon the leaves or twigs of oak trees, (especially the _Quercus infectoria_,) caused by the puncture of an insect (the _Cynips gallæ-tinctoriæ_) which deposits its eggs in the perforations thus made. The _Quercus infectoria_ is most abundant in Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria and Asia Minor, from which countries the galls are brought in large quantities to the manufactories of Europe and America. The best are called “ALEPPO galls,” from the name of the Syrian city which is the chief original market for them. Those from Smyrna are also highly esteemed.

They contain the vegetable astringent principle called _tannin_ in greater abundance than any other known substance. This is chemically resolved into the acids known as the tannic and gallic. All the woods and barks employed in the manufacture of leather by the tanning of hides contain this astringent matter in various degrees. The oak and the hemlock, for instance, are in extensive and familiar use for this purpose in the United States. The blackness of ink, as has been already indicated, is derived from the combination of these two acids with oxydized iron in saline compounds which are insoluble in water, and are therefore precipitated or deposited at the bottom of the fluid, unless held mechanically suspended in it, by gum, sugar or some similar substance which gives the quality of viscidity to its solutions.

The following will serve as a good formula for making common ink, and will be enough to give an idea of the ordinary and general mode of its composition:—“Take of Aleppo galls finely bruised, six ounces,—sulphate of iron, four ounces,—gum Arabic, four ounces,—water, six pints. Boil the galls in the water for about two hours, occasionally adding water to supply the loss from evaporation; then add the other ingredients; and keep the whole for two months in a wooden or glass vessel, which is to be shaken at intervals. Then strain the ink into glass bottles, adding a few drops of creosote to prevent mouldiness.”

Besides its property of viscidity, the gum possesses the power of preventing the ink from being too fluid: and it also serves to protect the vegetable matter from decomposition. The great desideratum or requisite is that the ink should flow with perfect freedom from the pen, to allow rapid writing, and that it should adhere to the paper, or “bite into it,” so as not to be effaceable by washing or sponging. The great defect to be avoided and prevented is the want of durability. The writing ink of the ancients was characterized by great permanency, being composed of finely pulverized carbon mixed with a mucilaginous or adhesive liquid. INDIA or CHINA INK is of this composition: it is formed of lamp-black and size or fine animal glue, with the incidental addition of perfumes. It is used in China with a brush, both for writing and painting on Chinese paper; and it is employed in other countries for making drawings in black and white,—the different depths of shade being produced by varying the degree of dilution in water.

Inks of other colors than black were anciently used only for purposes of ornamental and decorative writing. In later and present times, red and blue inks have been extensively employed in ruling account-books and other paper for like uses. Blue ink, within ten or more years past, has been, with many, a preferred fluid for common writing.

Blue ink, when properly made, flows with great ease and rapidity from the pen, dries almost instantly on the paper, and has been supposed or expected to be quite durable, and unchangeable in color, under ordinary vicissitudes. Yet, experience has demonstrated the contrary,—though various and well-contrived chemical combinations have been attempted for the purpose. Blue inks that change to black some time after writing are very popular. On well-made and high-priced paper, and with gold pens, such inks, if prepared by good chemists, may ultimately prove worthy of the high esteem in which they are held; but their absolute and unchangeable durability is yet to be tested by experience, before they can be safely employed for writings of permanent value, and relied on for use in making records designed for preservation and reference during a long course of years.

There is a compound of bichromate of potash and extract of logwood, which forms a very cheap and convenient writing fluid. Dr. Ure pronounces it “a vile dye.” Yet it may have its utilities, in localities remote from the centres of civilization and commerce,—as in the new settlements in western America, in Australia, &c., and for travelers in Africa, in the Arctic and other barbarous or uninhabited regions. The following is the best formula which can be given for this compound; and we present it on the highest chemical authority:—“Take Bichromate of potash, 1-4 oz.—Extract of logwood 1 oz.—Boiling water, 1 gallon.”

We have taken the trouble to give this prescription or formula, because some quacks have been peddling it all over the country, at all sorts of prices, varying (according to the credulity and liberality of purchasers) from 50 cents to $250. We give it for just what it is worth; and that is—exactly what this book costs the reader.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The longest and most valuable passage which we find in the writings of any English author, who has alluded to our subject, is the following, from “THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF WRITING,” by Thomas Astle, F. R. S., F. A. S. &c., pp. 209 to 212, 2d edition, London, 1803.