Using a densitometer researchers at St Andrew's have been measuring the dirt on pages of medieval manuscripts.
They concluded, that from the amount of dirt from fingers on the page, one of the most widely read contained a prayer to Saint Sebastian.
His arrow wounds were said to have resembled the sores caused by bubonic plague. This enhanced his reputation as an early intercessory vaccine.
Whilst a densitometer would be a useful addition to the bookshop I'm fairly certain I don't want one anywhere near my personal collection of dirty books.
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