Allegory of Ink and Paper, with a Note on Air Resistance
A prose allegory in pen, a red-chalk mechanism sketch, and a note on a struck ball
Written in mirror script, this leaf opens with a short prose allegory in pen: the ink, scorned by the white paper it stains, replies that through the words it forms it is the very cause of the paper's survival. Beneath the writing a red-chalk sketch lays out elements of a mechanism, its forms overlaid by the later ink text. A further note, keyed to two balls drawn on a horizontal line, argues that the air compressed behind a moving body resists more than still air, so that a struck ball darts away before its bounce can occur.
On this page
Allegory of the ink and the paper
The ink is despised for its blackness by the whiteness of the paper it soils; the paper, seeing itself stained, laments. The ink answers that, through the words it forms upon the paper, it is the cause of the paper's preservation.
Red-chalk sketch of mechanism elements
Below the pen writing, a faint red-chalk drawing sets out elements of a mechanism, its curved and stepped forms overlaid by the later ink text. The transcription flags it as 'elements of mechanisms' drawn in sanguigna beneath the script.
Air resistance behind a struck ball
The air that closes with fury behind a body moving through it resists more than air at rest. Because of this, a struck ball has already sprung away before its leap or rebound can be produced.