MANUFACTURE OP 1'APEK. 179 



pipes communicating with a retort, in which chlorine is formed by the 

 application of heat to a due proportion of manganese, common salt, and 

 sulphuric acid ; the rags are now white, but they have an intolerable 

 smell ; to free it from this it is returned to the 



Wasliinq Engine, when the rags are driven round as before (viz. by 

 the movement of a large horizontal wheel, which is connected with 

 several oval cisterns about ten feet long by five feet broad), till the 

 chlorine is thoroughly forced out. They are then let off into the 



Beating Engine. This is similar to the washing, except that the 

 knives of the roller and the plate are closer together, the roller here is 

 moved with more rapidity. Having been ground here for several hours, 

 the rags become pulp, very similar in its appearance to milk: the pulp, 

 which is now ready, is from the machine conveyed by a valve to the 



Chest. This is a large circular vessel which will hold several engines, 

 full of pulp, or, as it is now called, stuff; the chest is twelve feet in 

 diameter by five in depth. An Agitator revolves constantly round it 

 to keep the stuff from sinking. At the bottom of the chest there is a 

 cock, through which the pulp constantly flows into a vat, from whence it 

 proceeds to the sifter (this is a wire frame, which is constantly moving 

 up and down). Having passed the sifter the pulp falls like a sheet of 

 water upon the endless wire ; this wire is of the finest texture, and is 

 constantly moving on at a very slow pace, with, at the same time, a 

 shaking motion from side to side ; the pulp (stuff) is still in a state of 

 fluidity, but it soon assumes a state of consistence. Now a wire cylinder 

 presses upon the pulp, and leaves some faint lines, which are sometimes 

 observed in thin paper. From this cylinder its progress is onward upon 

 an inclined plane, covered with flannel or felt; this absorbs gradually 

 the moisture still remaining in the pulp. It is now seized by two 

 rollers, which powerfully squeeze it. Here another beautiful process 

 commences, viz. drying : the pulp although quite formed is still fragile 

 and damp ; it is therefore passed over a large cylinder, into which heat 

 is conveyed, from whence it passes over a second cylinder or drum, 

 hotter than the first, and again upon a third, witha,till greater degree of 

 heat ; it is then pressed on one side and passes over the smooth surface of 

 a cylinder, which gives a sort of glaze or polish and it is PAPEU. The 

 size (made of sheeps skins, and without which we could not write upon 

 paper), is now applied ; sometimes, however, it is introduced in the wash- 

 ing machine. 



The paper is now mounted upon a drum, and a circular knife cuts it 

 into the required lengths and breadths. The sheets are now subjected to 



