Whiting was then poured over the hide and rubbed in. The hide was once again cleaned in a lime bath, stretched on a frame, dried, and finally scraped smooth with pumice. The hair, epidermis, and any remnants of flesh were scraped off. The untanned animal skin was first coated with caustic lime for several days, then bleached in limewater. The parchment was prepared for writing by a membranarius, pergamenarius, etc. In the Middle Ages the word charta, or charter, was often modified by such words as ovina, vitulina, and pergamena. 301 there is mention of membrana pergamena, and Jerome refers variously to membrana and pergamena. Parchment was called δ ι φ θ έ ρ α in Greek and membrana in Latin as early as a.d. When early medieval codices are compared with the unexcelled quality of the parchment codices of late antiquity (4th to the 6th century), they represent a clear regression, although the method of making them (for which instructions have been preserved from the 8th century) can scarcely have been substantially altered. From then on papyrus was used but rarely except for documents (e.g., in the papal chancery into the 11th century). The triumph of the parchment codex over the papyrus roll (see roll and codex), together with the accompanying change in copying procedure of the 4th century, led to the rapid disappearance of papyrus, hitherto dominant. The medieval book par excellence is the codex, though the rotulus or roll (which must be distinguished from the roll of antiquity) also was in use.
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