INK (OF. enque, enche, Fr. encre, Prov. (m eant, It. cnehiostro, ink, from Lat. encaustum, Gk. iyKarc.ray, enkauston, purple ink, from ty Kat-Gros, cnkaustos, burned in, from ipcaleiv, enkai ein, to burn in, from ev, en, in Kaietr, kaicin, to burn). Any colored fluid used in writing or printing. The use of ink for writing was known to the ancients, and papyri and manuscripts dat ing back to more than 4000 years ago are to be found in various museums. Alany of these writing-fluids were pigments, consisting chiefly of various forms of carbon, such as ivory-black, lampblack, and soot mixed with gum, in order to avoid too great fluidity; others were apparently actual dyes of iron and acids, to which carbon was added. The liquor of the cuttlefish is report ed by Cicero and Pliny to have been used among the _Romans as a writing-fluid. Elegant manu scripts, written in gold and silver inks. are well known, and among these may be mentioned the celebrated Codex Upsal, which is written in silver ink on violet parchment. the initials and
certain being in gold. Sonic written wholly in red ink, made of vermilion, purple, or cinnabar, are still preserved. although red was more frequently used for the headings and ini tial: of books, chapters. and pages. The emperors of Constantinople were in the habit of signing their acts in red ink, and the first secretary was guardian of the vase containing the cinnabar. nr vermilion. which the Emperor used. Green ink, though rarely found in charters, often occurs in Latin manuscripts, especially those of later years. It was also used by the guardians of the Greek emperors before their wards attained their majority.
Inks are commonly treated under the two heads of writing-ink and printing-ink.