Ossian Collection > Thoughts on the origin and descent of the Gael

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earlier age than that of Alexander the Great,
after the building of Alexandria. That the plant
papyrus was known to the Greeks long prior
to the building of Alexandria, is put beyond
doubt by the testimony of a variety of ancient
authors, particularly of Homer and Hesiod ;* but
it is an admitted fact, that for 200 years after
Alexander's time, skins and the barks of trees
were used by the Greeks and Romans, as the
properest subjects then known to them for re-
taining written characters.
The era of the invention of manufacturing the
plant papyrus into paper, has been much disput-
ed. Varro's decision of the matter has been call-
ed in question by modern authors, relying on the
authority of Pliny. This learned author's words
are : " Prius tamen quam degrediamur ab ^gyp-
*' to, et papyri natura dicetur, cum chartte usu
" maxime humanitas vitas constet et memoria.
" Et hanc Alexandri Magni victoria repertam,
" auctor est M. Varro condita in Jigypto, Alex-
" andria. Antea non fuisse chartarum usum, in
" palmarum foliis primo scriptitatum, deinde quo-
" rundam arborum libris. Postea publica monu-
" mcnta plumbeis voluminibus, mox et privata
" linteis confici coepta aut ceris."t
Varro informs us, that prior to the time of
Alexander the Great, the use of paper was un-
known. Varro, it is evident, and after him
* Chalmers' Dictionary.
+ Plin. Hisl. Nat. lib. xiii. cap. 11.