360 ON MAIZE PAPER. 



bushels of this grain are produced annually. The fibre of maize, unlike 

 that of cotton, is not free, but is connected and embedded in vegetable 

 gluten and albumen, which require to be removed by chemical and manu- 

 facturing processes before it is fit for making paper. What the expense of 

 these processes are Dr. Von Welsback does not tell us ; but the present 

 high price of cotton rags warrants us in urging experiments elsewhere 

 with the material, in the confident hope that it may be economically and 

 generally employed in the manufacture of paper. 



One of the great objects of commercial men belonging to certain 

 departments of trade is the production of cheap paper. This useful 

 article is now employed in so many different ways, and is in such con- 

 stant and increasing demand, that like cotton, its price is rising beyond 

 all precedent, unless some discovery of a paper cheaper and more 

 suitable than rags is made, or the public choose to submit 

 to an inferior article, the prices of many material necessaries of 

 civilised life will undoubtedly rise. Paper for printing purposes must 

 be possessed of certain properties, such as strength, smoothness, 

 pliability, tenacity, and a uniform colour, whether pure white, delicate 

 cream or rose, purple or blue, it matters not the colour must be 

 uniform, the surface smooth, and the material strong, or the public will 

 not be satisfied. 



If any person examines some of the publications now daily or weekly 

 issuing from the press he will find that the paper used is often delicately 

 tinted. The ' Illustrated London News,' for instance, is printed on " 

 paper possessing a very beautiful pink hue when viewed in a proper 

 light. Many of the best description of new works are printed on 

 straw or cream-coloured paper, but elastic and perfectly uniform in 

 texture. Colour conceals many defects, and is much used for this pur- 

 pose. The number of substances which have been used for the manu- 

 facture of paper with different degrees of success is almost incredible. 



Nearly every kind of plant has been experimented upon ; shavings, 

 sawdust, hay, straw, rushes, &c, are all even now used, more or less, for 

 the production of printing paper, when mixed with a certain pro- 

 portion of rags, and alone or mixed together, to form the coarser 

 wrapping and room paper. Even the mineral world has been searched 

 for materials for paper, and in 1853 a patent was taken out for the 

 preparation and use of asbestos for this purpose. The pulp was 

 mixed with alum and an indestructible paper produced. 



The ' Mechanics' Magazine,' probably unaware of the patent just 

 named, introduced the following paragraph respecting this new paper 

 material : — " In the Northern States of America asbestos is found in 

 rather large quantities, in fine, long, silky threads. The low price of 

 this mineral, its power of resisting heat, and its low heat-conducting 

 power, have led to experiments for using it in paper-making. This 

 paper contains about one-third of its weight of asbestos. 



"The paper burns with a flame, and leaves a white residue, which 



