intermediate times has come down to us, and it is conveyed
through questioned writings of authors who
flourished about the period of the life of Jesus Christ;
the Younger Pliny and Dioscorides are the most prominent
of them. They present many curious recipes.
One of these, suggested by Pliny, is that the addition
of an infusion of wormwood to ink will prevent the
destruction of MSS. by mice.

From a memoir by M. Rousset upon the pigments
and dyes used by the ancients, it would appear that
the variety was very considerable. Among the white
colors, they were acquainted with white lead; and for
the blacks, various kinds of charcoal and soot were
used. Animal skins were dyed black with gall apples
and sulphate of iron (copper). Brown pigments were
made by mixing different kinds of ochre. Under the
name of Alexander blue, the ancients--Egyptians as
well as Greeks and Romans--used a pigment containing
oxide of copper, and also one containing cobalt.

Fabrics were dyed blue by means of pastel-wood.

Yellow pigments were principally derived from weld,
saffron, and other native plants.

Vermilion, red ochre, and minium (red lead) were
known from a remote antiquity, although the artificial
preparation of vermilion was a secret possessed
only by the Chinese.