PAPYRUS AND PARCHMENT
♦The bulrush of the Nile♦
The graceful water-plant whose plumy, drooping heads were swayed by
the breezes that ruffled the waters of the Nile was one of the most
useful plants known to Egypt, in whose commerce it long held a leading
place. As early as 2000 B. C., or five hundred years before Moses led
the children of Israel out of bondage, there was made from its smooth
green stems a material called by the same name, papyrus, a kind of
crude paper, which came into universal use, and was so valuable and in
such great demand that one of the kings proposed to maintain his army
from the sale of this product alone. The plant was the familiar bulrush
of the Nile, which grew in forest-like profusion along the banks of
that mighty stream; and from its strong stems was woven the ark in
which the infant Moses was hidden away “among the flags by the river’s
brink,” and so saved from the death that menaced him under Pharaoh’s
cruel decree. The Egyptian papyrus was thus the means of preserving to
the world the life of the greatest law-giver of history. It has been
equally instrumental in perpetuating the code of laws whose principles
still serve as foundation for the jurisprudence of the leading nations
of the earth, nearly four thousand years after they were first
promulgated to his own people, the wandering tribes in the desert.
♦Many uses for papyrus♦
The papyrus, a tall, smooth-stemmed reed of triangular form, grew to
a height of ten or fifteen feet, and terminated in a tufted plume of
leaves and flowers. Like so many plants that grow beneath the ardent
skies of the tropics, it had numerous uses. It was noted especially for
the soft, cellular substance found in the interior of its stems, which
was a common article of food, both cooked and in its natural state.
It was employed also for the making of mats, sail-cloth, cordage, and
wearing apparel; while in Abyssinia, in whose marshes it is still to
be found, boats were fashioned by weaving the stems closely together
and covering them with a sort of resinous matter. At a very early day,
judging from sculptures of the fourth dynasty, Egypt made a similar
use of the papyrus, employing it in the construction of light skiffs
suited to the navigation of the pools and shallows of the Nile. It is
believed that Isaiah referred to boats of this sort when he spoke
of the “vessels of bulrushes upon the waters.” But valuable as the
papyrus was through these manifold uses, its enduring fame was due to
an entirely different source. It held closely wrapped within its green
stems the scrolls upon which, through hundreds of years, the history
and literature of the world were to be written; and that fact alone was
sufficient to engrave its name deeply on the thoughts and memories of
men.
♦The preparation of papyrus♦
In the manufacture of this Egyptian paper, papyrus, the outer rind of
the stem was first removed, exposing an interior made up of numerous
successive fiber layers, some twenty in number. These were separated
with a pointed instrument, or needle, arranged side by side on a
hard, smooth table, crossed at right-angles with another set of slips
placed above, and then dampened. After pressure had been applied for a
number of hours, the sheets were taken out and rubbed with a piece of
ivory, or with a smooth stone or shell, until the desired surface was
obtained, when the process was complete, except for drying in the sun.
The inner layers of the plant furnished the best product, the outer
ones being coarse and suitable only for the making of cordage. Single
sheets made in this way were fastened together, as many as might
be required, to form the papyrus rolls, of which hundreds have been
discovered in recent years. It is said that the Romans, when they
undertook the manufacture of papyrus, made a great improvement in the
sheets by sizing them with flour, to which a few drops of vinegar were
added, and then beating the surface smooth. ♦Early Chinese discoveries♦
The Chinese, far away to the East, also learned some of the secrets
of paper-making. It is believed that in early times they used silk
as their basis, but later on they made the so-called rice-paper by a
method similar to that employed in the manufacture of papyrus, deftly
cutting a continuous slice from the pith of the papyrifera.
[Illustration: THE THRASHER--PAGE 57]
From the reed, and the process of manufacture through which it passed,
the English language has gained a number of words. The plant itself,
called papyrus in the Latin tongue, byblos in the Greek, has given us
the two words paper and bible. It is claimed further that the process
of furrowing off the different layers of the pith gave us, through the
Greek word charasso χαρασσω, to furrow, and the Greek and Latin charta,
a piece of paper, our several words chart, card, carte blanche, and,
of course, the “charta” of that famous document, Magna Charta, the
great sheet-anchor of English liberties. In the course of manufacture,
twenty sheets of papyrus were glued together into a scapus by the
glutinatorie, the first known bookbinders, and then into a roll known
as a volumer, from which we get our word volume. The city of Paris
boasts a volumer of this sort, a papyrus manuscript, well preserved,
which is thirty feet in length.
♦Extensive use of papyrus♦
The rolls, or papyri, are said to have become known in Europe through
the French expedition into Egypt in 1798, and specimens were reproduced
in print by one Cadet in 1805. The making of papyrus is mentioned by
Philostratus as a staple manufacture of Alexandria in A. D. 244, and
it continued to be used in Italy until the twelfth century. The extent
to which it was employed may be judged by the fact that nearly 1,800
rolls were unearthed in the ruins of Herculaneum, about the year 1753.
The durability of this substance added greatly to its value, and it is
claimed that the ancient papyrus manuscripts that have been properly
preserved are almost as serviceable to-day as when first made. It is
doubtful whether a similar statement can be made four thousand or
even two thousand years hence in regard to many of the books printed
on nineteenth-century paper. Chicago has the largest collection of
ancient papyri west of the Atlantic, consisting of three hundred
complete pieces and hundreds of fragments, which were discovered by an
Arab sheik while digging along the banks of the Nile.
♦Parchment a substitute for papyrus♦
Following the making of papyrus came the manufacture of parchment, the
use of which in diplomas and certain public documents continues to
the present time. As the story runs, the invention of the new writing
material was due to the spirit of rivalry between two cities of the
ancient world. Attalus, king of Pergamus, was anxious to establish
in his capital a library that would excel the splendid collection
at Alexandria, but Egypt, having a monopoly of papyrus, refused to
sell to him. But no monopoly of that day or this could ever control
all the means of supplying man’s needs. Nature is resourceful, and
man, when driven by necessity, soon learns that her treasures are
practically limitless. When the supply of one article is for any reason
curtailed, she furnishes something as good or better to take its place.
If all the paper in the world to-day were owned by a monopoly that
refused to sell, something would speedily be found to take its place.
So the inhabitants of Pergamus, being refused papyrus, set about
manufacturing a substitute, which came to be known among the Romans as
“pergamena,” from which comes our word parchment.
♦Manufacture of parchment♦
The skins of sheep and goats were employed in the making of parchment.
These were steeped in pits impregnated with lime, and afterward
stretched upon frames, where their thickness was reduced by paring and
scraping them with sharp instruments. To obtain the fine, uniform,
velvety surface characteristic of the best parchment, it was necessary
to sprinkle the skin with chalk, and rub and polish it with fine
pumice-stones, which not only smoothed and softened the leather,
but also improved its color. When it had been reduced to about half
its original thickness, it was dried for use. Vellum, which still
represents the acme of luxury in bookbinding, was made in a similar
manner, from the skins of young calves. As early as 1085 B. C., the
Hebrews wrote on the skins of animals, and it is believed that the
Medes, at about the same period, used a substance resembling parchment,
and prepared in a similar manner, the cost of land carriage being too
great to admit of any extensive introduction of papyrus into western
Asia. “For public documents, the rock, and for private, the pen and
the prepared skin, seem to have been preferred by them, and in the
earlier times, at any rate, they employed no other materials.”
♦The advent of paper♦
For many years parchment was used in England for all deeds of real
estate, and so lengthy were these documents that it was said it
took a flock of sheep to convey an acre of land or make a marriage
settlement. As the age of stone, the carved obelisk, the clay tablet,
and other crude materials was outgrown, so was that of papyrus and
parchment. With the next step forward came paper, and the improvements
in its manufacture with regard to quality, variety, and increase of
production, have kept pace with the varying and growing demands. It is
not given us to know what the future may bring forth, but paper seems
likely to hold sway until the end of time.