Parchment and Vellum

Parchment and Vellum, writing materials made from specially prepared and untanned skins of animals, usually sheep, calves, or goats. Parchment has been used at least since about 200bc; its name is derived from the ancient Greek city of Pergamum, where an especially fine quality of the material was produced. Vellum is a finer quality parchment made from the skins of kids, lambs, and young calves. Parchment, which gradually replaced papyrus and was itself later replaced by paper, is still used occasionally for formal honorary documents. Parchment or vellum is prepared by cleaning the skin and removing the hairs, scraping and smoothing both sides of the skin, and finally rubbing it with powdered pumice. Coarser parchments made from the skins of older animals are used for the heads of drums, banjos, and tambourines. So-called parchment paper, a modern invention, is made by dipping ordinary unsized paper into a solution of two parts concentrated sulfuric acid and one part water for a few seconds and then quickly neutralizing the acid.