Social- Wasps. 101 



than the Egyptians ; for the early attempts at paper-making 

 were so rude, that the substance produced was almost useless, 

 from being extremely friable. The paper of the papyrus 

 was formed of the leaves of the plant, dried, pressed, and 

 polished ; the wasp alone knew how to reduce vegetable 

 fibres to a pulp, and then unite them by a size or glue, 

 spreading the substance out into a smooth and delicate leaf. 

 This is exactly the process of paper-making. It would seem 

 that the wasp knows, as the modern paper-makers now know, 

 that the fibres of rags, whether linen or cotton, are not the 

 only materials that can be used in the formation of paper ; 

 she employs other vegetable matters, converting them into a 

 proper consistency by her assiduous exertions. In some 

 respects she is more skilful even than our paper-makers, for 

 she takes care to retain her fibres of sufficient length, by 

 which she renders her paper as strong as she requires. Many 

 manufacturers of the present day cut their material into small 

 bits, and thus produce a rotten article. One great distinction 

 between good and bad paper is its toughness; and this 

 difference is invariably produced by the fibre of which it is 

 composed being long, and therefore tough; or short, and 

 therefore friable. 



The wasp has been labouring at her manufacture of paper 

 from her first creation, with precisely the same instruments 

 and the same materials ; and her success has been unvarying. 

 Her machinery is very simple, and therefore it is never out 

 of order. She learns nothing, and she forgets nothing. 

 Men, from time to time, lose their excellence in particular 

 arts, and they are slow in finding out real improvements. 

 Such improvements are often the effect of accident. Paper is 

 now manufactured very extensively by machinery in all its 

 stages ; and thus, instead of a single sheet being made by 

 hand, a stream of paper is poured out, which would form a 

 roll large enough to extend round the globe, if such a length 

 were desirable. The inventors of this machinery, Messrs. 

 Fourdrinier, it is said, spent the enormous sum of 40,OOOZ. 

 in vain attempts to render the machine capable of determining 

 with precision the width of the roll ; and, at last, accom- 



