PAPEE, MANUFACTURE OF 481 



the paper by the ncotate of alumina in lieu of it. This paper was examined by 

 Professor Brando of the Mint, Professor Miller of King's College, and Mr. E. War- 

 rington of Apothecaries' Hall, who reported favourably on the invention. Writing 

 placed upon this paper strengthens in intensity when exposed to damp, sea, air, or 

 water : influences which ordinarily cause common writing-ink to fade and become 

 illegible. 



Dr. Hodges of Belfast, and some others have patented chemically-prepared papers for 

 the use of bankers ; but, as far as our enquiries have gone, most bankers appear to 

 think they are already sufficiently secured by the known methods of engraving and 

 printing. 



PAPER, MANUFACTURE OF. It is much to be regretted that in tracing 

 the origin of so curious an art as that of the manufacture of modern paper, any defi- 

 nite conclusion as to the precise time or period of its adoption should hitherto have 

 proved altogether unattainable. The Royal Society of Sciences at Gottingen, in 1755 

 and 1763, offered considerable premiums for that especial object, but unfortunately 

 all researches, however directed, were utterly fruitless. The most ancient manuscript 

 on cotton paper appears to have been written in 1050, while Eustathius, who wrote 

 towards the end of the 12th century, states that the Egyptian papyrus had gone into 

 disuse but a little before his time. To reconcile, however, in some measure, contra- 

 dictory accounts, it may be observed that, on some particular occasions, and by some 

 particular persons, the Egyptian paper might have been employed for several hundred 

 years after it ceased to be in general use ; and it is quite certain, that although the 

 new invention must have proved of great advantage to mankind, it could only have 

 been introduced by degrees. Amongst the records which are now preserved in the Re- 

 cord Office, will be found a letter addressed to Henry III., and written previously to 

 1222, which appears to be upon strong piper, of mixed materials. Several letters of 

 the following reign, which are there preserved, are evidently written on cotton paper. 

 Were we able to determine the precise time when paper was first made from cotton, 

 we should also be enabled to fix the invention of the art of paper-making as it is now 

 practised ; for the application of cotton to the purposes of paper-making requires 

 almost as much labour and ingenuity as the use of linen rags. Some have conceived, 

 and probably with sufficient reason, that China originally gave birth to the inven- 

 tion. Certain it is, that the art of making paper from vegetable matter reduced to 

 pulp was known and understood there long before it was practised in Europe, and the 

 Chinese have carried it to a high degree of perfection. Several kinds of their paper 

 evince the greatest art and ingenuity, and are applied with much advantage to many 

 purposes. One especially, manufactured from the inner bark of the bamboo, is par- 

 ticularly celebrated for affording the clearest and most delicate impressions from 

 copper-plates, which are ordinarily termed India proofs. The Chinese, however, 

 make paper of various kinds, some of the bark of trees, especially the mulberry- 

 tree and the elm, but chiefly of the bamboo and cotton-tree ; and occasionally from 

 other substances, such as hemp, wheat-, or rice-straw. To give an idea of the manner 

 of fabricating paper from these different substances, it will suffice (the process being 

 nearly the same in each) to confine our observations to the method adopted in the 

 manufacture of paper from the bamboo a kind of cane or hollow reed, divided by 

 knots, but larger, more elastic, and more durable than any other reed. The whole 

 substance of the bamboo is at times employed by the Chinese in this operation, but 

 the younger stalks are preferred. The canes, being first cut into pieces of four or 

 five feet in length, are made into parcels, and thrown into a reservoir of mud and 

 water for about a fortnight, to, soften them ; they are then taken out, and carefully 

 washed, every one of the pieces being again cut into filaments, which are exposed to 

 the rays of the sun to dry, and to bleach. After this they are boiled in large kettles, 

 and then reduced to pulp in mortars, by means of a hammer with a long handle ; or 

 as is more commonly the case, by submitting the mass to the action of stampers, 

 raised in the usual way by cogs on a revolving axis. The pulp being thus far pre- 

 pared, a glutinous substance extracted from the shoots of a certain plant is next 

 mixed with it in stated quantities, and upon this mixture chiefly depends the quality 

 of the paper. 



As soon as this has taken place the whole is again beaten together until it becomes 

 a thick viscous liquor, which, after being reduced to an essential state of consistency, 

 by a further admixture of water, is then transferred to a large reservoir or vat, having 

 on each side of it a drying stove, in the form of a ridge of a house, that is, consisting 

 of two sloping sides touching at top. These sides are covered externally with an 

 exceedingly smooth coating of stucco, and a flue passes through the brickwork, so as 

 to keep the whole of each side equally and moderately warm. A vat and a stove are 

 placed alternately in the manufactory, so that there are two sides of two different 



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