PAPER INDUSTRY. 417 



hair has been rubbed with the ashes of rice straw, rich in silicic 

 acid, and purified, it is brought into parallel layers with a fine brass 

 comb and sorted according to length. It is then glued with 

 Fu-nori or seaweed paste (see p. 82) to a piece of linen or 

 cotton stuff, three or four centimeters wide, whose thickness is 

 governed by the size of the brush. This is now rolled up into 

 a cone, its lower end enclosed in a paper cover, and the handle 

 end glued into a piece of bamboo cane of the length and thick- 

 ness of a lead pencil. The brush .is now ready for use. 



The use of India ink, Jap. Sumi, dates back further than that of 

 our writing ink ; in Eastern Asia it is at least as old as the use of 

 paper, if not older, for it is believed that it was invented in China 

 about 260-220 B.C. The province of Kiang-si, and especially the 

 city of Jaotscheu, south-east of the Lake Poyang, was celebrated for 

 centuries for its excellent India ink. It had the valuable property 

 of becoming harder and blacker with increasing age. The industry 

 spread later over several other provinces, chiefly Nganhwui — where 

 the city of Hwuichau has a high reputation for its ink — and the 

 province of Kwang-tung. The English name " India ink " indicates 

 the way by which this fine Chinese preparation first came into 

 Europe. 



Although Japan manufactures for itself the largest part of the 

 Sumi used in the country, the Chinese product is even here regarded 

 as better, and commands a higher price. 



Lamp black and animal glue form the essential constituents of 

 India ink. The glue only serves to unite the fine particles of 

 carbon which are produced by imperfect combustion, and to fix the 

 ink on the paper by the use of the brush. Musk, camphor, or some 

 other aromatic materials, are used in small proportions with the ink, 

 to hide the unpleasant odour of the glue, but are not essential. 



Pine-soot (Susu) which was formerly used, was superseded by 

 lampblack, Jap, Yu-yen, which can be obtained by burning any 

 kind of fat or fatty oil. In Japan, however, and still more in China, 

 it is made best and with preference from the Dokuye-no-abura, or 

 oil of the Elceococca cordata^ Bl. {Dryandra cordata^ Thunb., see 

 p. 155), 100 Catties of which (600 grammes) will yield 8 Catties 

 of pure lampblack. 



The lamps used for this purpose are small crucibles or dishes of 

 stoneware, about 14 centimeters in diameter, with wicks of rush- 

 pith. A cone-shaped soot catcher of burnt clay is placed over 

 each lamp, and from hour to hour a new one is substituted, and 

 the soot is carefully brushed off and swept together by the beard 

 of a quill, and is then sifted through a fine hair-sieve. The glue 

 (Japanese Ni-kawa) made from ox-hides and isinglass, must be 

 very bright, and acts as a cement. To ten Catties of lampblack 

 from the oil of Dryandra cordata, Thunb., four Catties of old ox-hide 

 glue, and one half-Catty of old isinglass are reckoned. These 

 ingredients, after the glue has been boiled in the necessary amount 



II. E E 



