304 Cellulose 



The second great branch of the cellulose industry is that of 

 paper. Here also we meet with a large proportion of fabrics 

 composed of unbleached or partially bleached materials, in 

 reference to which there is little to be said from the point of 

 view of their chemistry. They are used for 'inferior' purposes, 

 such as wrappings ; they serve their purpose, and there are no 

 problems of especial import presented by the chemical history 

 of the fibres in this particular form. 



But it is otherwise with papers used for writing and print- 

 ing. In this category permanence is a first desideratum. 

 Books and records have more than a passing value, and it is 

 essential that they should be committed to pages suitably 

 resistant both to chemical and mechanical wear and tear. On 

 the other hand, we may safely affirm that there is no public 

 opinion in this country upon this important subject. Where 

 preferences for high-class papers exist they are based rather 

 upon aesthetic and other recondite considerations than upon 

 any judgment as to composition and the relation of their con- 

 stituents to the destructive agencies of the natural world. On 

 this basis white papers admit of a very simple classification 

 into three main groups : (A) those composed of the normal 

 and resistant celluloses only e.g. cotton, linen ; (B) those 

 composed of celluloses containing oxidised groups or oxy- 

 celluloses e.g. wood-cellulose, esparto and straw celluloses ; 

 (C) those containing, in admixture with the above, ground wood 

 or mechanical wood pulps (lignocellulose), many of which are 

 sufficiently ' white ' as not to prejudice a paper from the point 

 of view of colour. 



Of the above, Class A stands beyond criticism. From the 

 discussion of the chemistry of the celluloses it is evident that 

 they fulfil all the requirements of inertness, and this may be 

 taken as a confirmation of the extensive experience which we 

 have of the lasting properties of the celluloses. Throughout 



