142 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



was signed by a number of government officers, 

 and stamped with the emperor's own seal tinged with 

 vermilion. This paper money was circulated in every 

 part of the emperor's dominions, no person, at the peril 

 of his life, daring to refuse to accept it in payment. 



One of the substances mentioned above, the 

 bamboo, a ligneous hollow reed of large growth, 

 cannot perhaps be recognized as an eligible material 

 for this manufacture ; but the bamboo paper of the 

 Chinese possesses some essential qualities in a supe- 

 rior degree to any that is manufactured in Europe. 

 It is softer, smoother, and, not ottering the least 

 inequality in its closely united surface, is admirably 

 adapted to the pencil, which the Chinese use in 

 writing. On the other hand it is more liable to 

 crack, more affected by moisture, sooner injured by 

 dust, and more frequently destroyed by worms, than 

 European paper. 



The manner of transforming the harsh bamboo 

 into so soft and delicate a substance is extremely 

 simple. Young shoots, one or two years old, which 

 have attained to only three or four inches in dia- 

 meter, are generally preferred. The leaves are 

 stripped from the stem, and the thin outer green rind 

 or parenchyma is peeled off. They are then cut into 

 pieces four or five feet long, made into bundles, and 

 put into water for maceration. In about ten days 

 they become sufficiently softened. After being washed 

 in pure water they are put into a dry ditch and 

 covered with slaked lime for some days ; when taken 

 out of this ditch they are again washed, then cut into 

 filaments, and exposed to the rays of the sun to be 

 dried and bleached. In this state they are boiled in 

 large kettles, and subsequently reduced to a pulp in 

 wooden mortars, by means of a heavy pestle with a 

 long handle, which the workman moves with his 

 foot. Thus prepared, some shoots of a particular 



