312 PAPER FROM PEAT. 



a species of Amaryllis; French white paper from old rag and 

 oakum; and English letter-paper has been made containing a 

 large quantity of plaster of Paris: chopped hair, spent bark, 

 wool combings, wood shavings, &c. have been tried, but with- 

 out success; and lately the fresh-water Confervse have been had 

 in requisition, but they were found too fragile to endure 

 bleaching. 



ESTHER. 



Certain kinds of turf were then tried; for all linen paper 

 being composed of vegetable fibre, it appeared probable that 

 peat, in a certain state, would be well fitted to the 'purpose. 

 The bogs consist of various strata, varying in density and 

 other properties, in proportion to the depth. The surface is 

 usually covered with mosses, heaths, &c. in a living state; 

 the stratum immediately beneath, usually consists of a tough, 

 fibrous, light spongy mass, composed of the same kind of 

 plants as those growing above, but in the first stage of de- 

 composition; the vegetable fibre being unaltered, while the 

 other organic substances of the plants are chemically changed. 

 From this material the paper is made. The turf is macerated 

 in a machine resembling a paper-mill, until its parts are fully 

 separated without injuring the fibre; and a stream of water 

 running through the machine, carries off the earthy and other 

 extraneous matter; the strong woody stems of heath, &c. are 

 then expelled, and the mass dried in an hydraulic press. By 

 next exposing it to the agency of several chemical prepara- 

 tions, the fibres are brought into the state of a pure, white, 

 fine pulp, fitted to be converted into paper, either alone or in 

 combination with linen rags. The pigment called " Vandyke 

 Brown" is also procured from the residue of this manufac- 

 ture, as well as a species of artificial camphor. About eigh- 

 teen pounds of the pulp may be procured from one hundred 

 weight of crude turf; and pasteboard is made from it by a 

 most simple process. The fibres of the turf lie nearly paral- 

 lel; and the turf is therefore cut in pieces of about two feet 

 square by three inches thick: when dry, it is placed in a close 



