upposed to arise was inorganic and the latter when it was organic,
_i.e._ contained the requisite fundamental substances dissolved in the form
of complicated and fluid combinations of carbon. In "autogenous soldering"
two pieces of metal are united by the melting of the opposing surfaces,
without the use of a separate fusible alloy or solder as a cementing
material.

AUTOGRAPHS. Autograph (Gr. [Greek: autos], self, [Greek: graphein], to
write) is a term applied by common usage either to a document signed by the
person from whom it emanates, or to one written entirely by the hand of
such person (which, however, is also more technically described as
_holograph_, from [Greek: holos], entire, [Greek: graphein], to write), or
simply to an independent signature.

The existence of autographs must necessarily have been coeval with the
invention of letters. Documents in the handwriting of their composers may
possibly exist among the early papyri of Egypt and the clay tablets of
Babylonia and Assyria, and among the early examples of writing in the East.
But the oriental practice of employing professional scribes in writing the
body of documents and of using seals for the purpose of "signing" (the
"signum" originally meaning the impression of the seal) almost precludes
the idea. When we are told (1 Kings xxi. 8) that Jezebel wrote letters in
Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, we are, of course, to understand
that the letters were written by the professional scribes and that the
impression of the king's seal was the authentication, equivalent to the
signature of western nations; and again, when King Darius "signed" the
writing and the decree (Dan. vi. 9), he did so with his seal. To find
documents which we can [v.03 p.0046] recognize with certainty to be
autographs, we must descend to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods of Egyptian
history, which are represented by an abundance of papyrus documents of all
kinds, chiefly in Greek. Among them are not a few original letters and
personal documents, in which we may see the handwriting of many lettered
and unlettered individuals who lived during the 3rd century B.C. and in
succeeding times, and which prove how very widespread was the practice of
writing in those days. We owe it to the dry and even atmosphere of Egypt
that these written documents have been preserved in such numbers. On the
other hand, in Italy and Greece ancient writings have perished, save the
few charred papyrus rol