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C. U. C. p. ALUMNI JOURNAL 



tation of papyrus and sought in this way 

 to stop the progress of the hbrary. 

 Eumenes had recourse to a substitute 

 made from the prepared skins of sheep 

 and goats, and the material was called 

 Pergamena from which we get the word 

 parchment. A fine thin variety made 

 from kid and lamb skins is called vellum. 



Adhering to the historical method of 

 study we come to the invention of wood 

 paper by the Chinese, which is of older 

 date than is generally supposed. One of 

 the pictures in the Berne frieze shows 

 the cutting and transportation of stalks 

 of the paper mulberry (Broussonetia 

 papyrifera) by Chinese. It is believed 

 that paper was made in China from the 

 fibrous pulp of plants at least 200 years 

 before the Christian era, but in the days 

 of Confucius the Chinese wrote upon the 

 thinly pared bark of Bamboo, etching the 

 characters with a style. True paper 

 from> China was not known before 95 

 A. D. This paper was made of bamboo 

 by a primitive method, the stems being 

 cut into short lengths and soaked in pits 

 of mud and water to soften them. The 

 mass was then taken out and beaten in 

 mortars to a pulp with large wooden 

 pestles. The pulp was cleaned, partly 

 strained and transferred to a vat where 

 it was further treated until of a con- 

 sistence to form paper when dipped out 

 with a mold or frame constructed of 

 bamboo in small strips made smooth and 

 round like a wire. While the water was 

 draining away from this mold or sieve 

 the mold was shaken back and forth so 

 as to cause the fibers to felt or interlace. 

 The sheets of fibers was transferred from 

 the mold to a heated surface to dry, the 

 transference being effected by removing 

 the edge of the frame or deckle and re- 



versing the mold. The paper was then 

 sized by dipping it in fish glue or by 

 brushing the sheet with a thin rice starch. 

 The sheets were usually three feet and 

 a half in length and two in breadth. The 

 fine paper used for letters was polished, 

 after sizing, by rubbing it with smooth 

 stones. 



An epoch in the history of papermak- 

 ing dates from the capture of Samarkand 

 by the Arabs in 676. This city, which 

 is on the borders of Bokhara in Turk- 

 estan, was inhabited by Chinese and 

 Persians, among whom were probably 

 Chinese workmen skilled in the art of 

 papermaking. After its capture Samar- 

 kand came under the rule of the Caliphs 

 of Bagdad, under whose government it 

 may be supposed the arts and industries 

 flourished. x\mong these papermaking 

 was fostered until Samarkand became the 

 home of this industry. In 795 the Caliph 

 Haromi Al Raschid, of "Arabian Nights" 

 fame, sent for workmen from Samarkand 

 and established a paper mill at Bagdad, 

 where the industry was maintained as a 

 State monopoly for a period of 500 years. 

 The use of rags as a papermaking mate- 

 rial is credited to the Arabs, who, how- 

 ever, kept their process a secret, until the 

 arrival of the Crusaders, by whom the 

 veil of the mystery of papermaking was 

 lifted. 



The illustrations of the Berne frieze 

 show the Arabs operating a stone pulp- 

 ing mill, and the picture following this 

 gives a representation of the return of 

 the Crusaders to Europe bringing speci- 

 mens of the paper and books manufac- 

 tured in the East. Other pictures show 

 the introduction of the stamp mill, oper- 

 ated by water power, the dipping vat and 

 press, the appearance of watermarks on 



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