PARCHMENT, one of the oldest inventions of writing materials, was known at least us early as 503 years B.C. Herodotus speaks of books written upon skins in his time. Pliny, without jood grounds, places the invention as late as 190 B.C., stating that it Was made at PergamLs the name Pergamena, corrupted into Eng. parchment) in the reign of Eumenius i • in consequence of Ptolemy of Egypt having projoibited the expor tation of papyrus. PGssibly the Pergamian invention was an improvement in the prepa ration of skins,which had certainly been used centuries before. The manufacture rose to great importance in P-orae about a century B.C., and soon became the chief material for writing on; and its use sprean all over Europe, and retained its pre-eminence until the invention of paper from lags, which from its great durability proved a fortunate cir cumstance for literature.
There are several kinds of prepared from the skins of different animals, according to their intended uses. Tae of:Unary writing parchment is made from those of the sheep and of the she-goat; the fins kind, known as vellum, is made from those of very young calves, kids, and lambs; the tizick common kinds, for drums, tamborines, battledores, etc., from those of old he-goats ate.1 sbe-goats, and in northern Europe
franc wolves; and a peculiar kind is made from asses' skins, the surface of which is enameled. It is used for tablets, as black-lead writing- can be readily removed from it by moisture. The method of making parchment is at firz:t the same as in dressing skins for leather. The skins are limed in the lime-pit until thz.k hah is easily removed. They are then stretched tightly and equally, and the flesh side is des3ed as in currying, until a perfectly smooth surface is obtained. It is next ground by rubbing over it a flat piece of pumice-stone, previously dressing the flesh side only with powdered chalk, and slaked lime sprinkled over it. It is next allowed to dry, still tightly streteZNed on the frame. The drying process is an important one and must be rather slowly aa:riod on, for which purpose it llUtS::. be in the shade. Sometimes these operations have to be repeated several times, in order to insure an excellent quality, and much depends upon the skill with which the pumice-stone is used, and also upon the fineness of the pumice itself. When quite dried the lime and chalk are removed by rubbing with a soft lambskin with the wool on.