VII 

 PAPER-MAKERS 



THE ancient Egyptians are generally given the 

 credit for the invention of paper from slices of the 

 stem of papyrus reed, but probably the Chinese 

 would claim that they made it from another plant. 

 Neither race has the slightest claim to be con- 

 sidered as the inventors of paper, for the wasps 

 were probably busy manufacturing paper long 

 before the first man put in an appearance on the 

 face of the earth. 



Not so long ago nearly all paper turned out by 

 our paper-mills was made of rags ; but the demands 

 for paper have long outgrown the supply of rags, 

 and we have now to cut down the primeval forests, 

 reduce the wood to pulp, and use the crushed 

 fibres to make most of our paper. In this " up-to- 

 date " development of an important industry we 

 are merely going back to the primitive craft of the 

 wasps. Of course, we have improved upon their 

 methods, bringing in wonderful and expensive ma- 

 chinery for pulping the wood and converting it into 

 smooth sheets of varying thickness. The wasp does 

 the whole business with her mandibles and tongue, 



II 161 



