No problem in libraries, archives and graphic collections is as bad as that of ink damage. It can reduce the pH of a paper to as low as 2.5 (as in the Van Gogh drawing reproduced). The description of the problem concentrates on the aspect of acidity. Reference is made to damage on skin (codex alexandrinus) and paper (manuscript, music and graphic art). Conflicting advice from chemists is said to leave the restorer confused, but funding may be given to a group of Viennese institutions for research into this problem. The final paragraph describes the treatment of the Van Gogh drawing, deacidified in three phases. The first consisted of relining with Japanese paper using gelatine, ph9, as adhesive. Secondly the leaf was moistened with morpholine. Finally it was sprayed with magnesium methyl carbonate. Photographs.