Papermaking through eighteen centuries, by Dard Hunter

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THE OLD WATERMARK 31 cence, and it was believed that the horn of this mythical anima was a panacea for all illness and an antidote for poisons. The ancients belicved the horn of the unicorn so sensitive that if a cup o poison was brought near it a thick moisture would be expelle /L No. 19 The evolution of the bull's head \m(erm:\rk) from 1536 to th mark of Willia Rittenhouse of 1 from the surface of the liquid, and if a piece of horn was throw into the poison, the poison would bubble and in time boil over. T was also thought by the ancients that the horn was movable a will, like a kind of sword. The unicorn was used as a watermar by the old papermakers both in full body and in head alone. Tt seldom found as a papermark with any other symbol incorporate with it, but in a few instances a sword or cross protruding from it back has been noted. A mark of this kind s shown in one of th specimens from 1479. The wire forms for both of the watermark illustrated, from the year 1479 were applied to the paper mould parallel with the chain wires. This was an uncommon practice, a it was customary for the old workers to place the watermarkin wires parallel with the laid wires, or so that the device faced th vatman as he held the mould Digital Imag © 2004 University of Utah. All rights reserved