70 



C. U. C. P. ALUMNI JOURNAL 



PAPER AND PAPERMAKING PROCESSES. 



By THOMAS J. KEENAN. 



In this, the first of two papers^ based 7ipon a lecture delivered by the mithor 

 to the University Class of the College of Pharmacy the development of the art 

 of paper making is traced from earliest to modern times. The chemistry 

 thereof will he discussed iti a second paper which will appear in the June issue. 



In addressing the University class 

 in Pharmaceutical Chemistry on Paper 

 and Papermaking Processes, I desire to 

 express the pleasure it affords me to be 

 again among pharmacists and how 

 greatly I esteem the privilege as well as 

 the honor implied in Professor Amy's 

 kind invitation to tell you some of the 

 things I have learned of the paper- 

 maker's art in the course of my connec- 

 tion with it. My early years were spent 

 in pharmacy and it was impossible for 

 me to remain untouched b\ association 

 with the things handled by pharmacists, 

 to escape the glamor and the romance 

 of the East that cling to the gums, spices 

 and other drugs that reach the dealer 

 and the compounder after traversing long 

 stretches of desert sands on camel back 

 and in caravans. Fie is, indeed, a dull or 

 unimaginative person whose fancy fails 

 to be inspired through association with 

 the products of the East that form part 

 of the materia medica. When a man of 

 burning imagination and great intellect- 

 ual gifts like the poet Keats is brought 

 in touch with the associations of the 

 pharmacy his verse reflects the enchant- 

 ment in the spell of "lucent syrops, tinct 

 with cinnamon" and literature is decked 

 with fresh gems ; while on the scientific 

 side we can recall men like Newton, 

 Scheele and Humphrey Davy who began 



life as pharmacists and afterward at- 

 tained to eminence and fame. It is good 

 to think that they perhaps owed the first 

 stirrings of their genius to the associa- 

 tions of the pharmacy ; and when my talk 

 is finished I hope it may leave with you 

 some impressions that will lend new 

 associations to your thought of paper, 

 which has a history of its own equaling 

 in interest any drug or preparation of 

 the pharmacopoeia. 



In discussing the form! which my ad- 

 dress should take, Professor Arny and 

 I agreed that the historical method of 

 study would be best for a discourse on 

 papermaking; he, perhaps, because it is 

 the more logical method of study, and I 

 because it is the easiest road to travel. 

 Before going back to beginnings, how- 

 ever, I should like to touch on some of 

 the striking analogies and contrasts 

 which the modern art of papermaking 

 presents to pharmacy. The same un- 

 certainty that once prevailed in pharma- 

 ceutical operations regarding the ex- 

 tractive or alkaloidal strength of the 

 ultimate tincture or extract, is exper- 

 ienced by the papermaker in regard to 

 the nature of the product he may obtain 

 after extracting his wood and mixing the 

 residuum or marc — the papermaker 

 throws away the extractive liquor — with 

 filling and loading substances in a beat- 



