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NATURAL HISTORY READER. 



and decorated their temples ; its pith was eaten as food ; 

 wickerwork boats, baskets, and boxes were woven of its 

 stalk, and of its bark were made sails, cordage, mats, cloth, 

 and sandals, for the priests ; it was applied as medicine 

 for the cure of ulcers ; it furnished materials for torches 



and candles, and its 

 roots were used for fuel 

 and manufactured into 

 utensils and furniture. 

 6. But it was in the 

 manufacture of paper 

 that it was put to its 

 most important use. 

 The mode of manufac- 

 ture was as follows : The 

 inner skin of the stalk 

 was divided by means 

 of a sharp needle into 

 as many thin plates as 

 the size would admit. 

 These were placed on 

 a table, and kept con- 

 tinually moistened by 

 Nile water. Over these 

 slips a transverse layer 

 was placed, after which 

 the whole was subject- 

 ed to pressure, till the 

 plates adhered closely 

 together in a sheet. 

 The sheets were then dried in the sun, beaten smooth and 

 firm with a mallet, and polished witli a piece of ivory or 

 shell. The breadth of the sheet was limited by the length 

 of the papyrus slips, but its leugth could be extended in- 

 definitely. 



