In arranging groups of small objects, put together what will go in a
three-inch circle, and minor pieces around, and then the best in the
middle can be printed direct on lantern slides.
7. Preservation and Packing.
While travelling little can be done for preserving objects. Papyrus
rolls should be wrapped at once in a damp handkerchief, to be
carried, and then wrapped in paper, packed in a tin box, and filled
round with cotton wool. Small papyri can be safely damped in a wet
cloth, and flattened out between the leaves of a book; secure one
edge straight in the hinge, and gradually press flat and secure by
advancing leaves over it. Glass, if perfect, should be packed in tins
with wool; old food or tobacco tins do well for tender things.
Flint implements and coins, though hardy, should be saved from
grinding by wrapping in waste paper.
Ivory, if it has been buried, is very liable to flake. The cure is to
soak it in paraffin wax; but temporarily it is secured by winding
cotton thread round it in many directions. Some anoint it with
vaseline, but if vaseline penetrates the ivory, it will not take up
paraffin or gelatine later. Tender wood may be likewise saved.
A much-cracked glazed jar was packed by winding string round it in
all directions, with tufts of wool under the string.
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