_Ink_ (Vol. v., p. 151.).--A learned Cambridge professor, who has been a
V.P.R.S., once related to me the following anecdote, in reference to the
celebrated and most practical philosopher, the late Dr. Wollaston. In
the rooms of the Royal Society the Doctor chanced to mention that he
could not, for the life of him, discover the composition of the rich
black pigment used by the ancient Egyptians in their inscriptions on the
mummy cases. He had analysed it over and over again, and invariably
found animal matter present. How was this? "Why," observed a member, to
the grievous annoyance of the somewhat self-opinioned Doctor, "they used
the ink of the (_Sepia officinalis_) cuttle-fish." This most remarkable
excretion is of the deepest black hue; and that it retains its peculiar
qualities unimpaired, even after being buried beneath the chalk
formation of this earth of our's for unnumbered periods, is proved in
the case of the well-known fossil ink of Dean Buckland. I know not
whether or no this will answer the Query of MR. W. SPARROW SIMPSON, B.A.