India ink, also known as Indian ink or Chinese ink, is a simple black carbon-based ink. It has been used in some form or another since ancient times, and around the turn of the twentieth century, it became the standard for writing and printing in the Western world. This ink is made up of a carbon pigment called lampblack, which is made up of soot from burned wood or resin, mixed with water to make a liquid.
India ink frequently contains a binder or adhesive to make the finished product more durable, and it may also contain perfume. It can come in the form of a hard cake or stick that must be moistened before use, or it can come in the form of a liquid.
This ink was first used to provide contrast on carved hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt and China. India ink was widely used in Rome by the 12th century CE. Soot from various materials can be used to create various shades of black. While gelatin may have been a common early binder, shellac is now widely used.
India ink became the most popular ink for printing and writing in the West in the early twentieth century. It is not recommended for fountain pens when made with a shellac binder because it clogs them. Despite the fact that it is not as widely used as it once was, ink has a variety of specialized applications today. It is, for example, a preferred medium for comic strips. It’s also the ink of choice for Chinese and Japanese calligraphy.
India ink is also used to prepare slides in microbiology. It’s usually used as a background color to draw attention to the clear bacterium capsule. The bacterial cells are stained with methyl violet in a similar way, resulting in a bright purple appearance.