388 ON THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 



off on reels, to be afterwards dried and finished in the ordinary way. 

 As a model, the machine worked fairly ; but in order to bring it into 

 nse in a practicable shape, several years and a large sum of money were 

 spent by the Messrs. Fourdrinier, who worked at the machine with the 

 zeal of enthusiasts, and ultimately succeeded. From this time the ma- 

 chine was rapidly improved, until there was no hiatus between the stuff 

 and the cut paper. After this there was another pause. The trade 

 seemed satisfied with what they had got ; and a machine capable of 

 making 54 inches on the wire — with two presses, 5 drying cylinders 3 

 feet in diameter, a set of glaze rolls, and a cutter — and able to run at the 

 rate of 50 feet per minute, was considered rather a good tiling than 

 otherwise. Now, however, there are machines as much as 88 inches 

 wide, with 16 drying cylinders 3£ feet in diameter, running at the rate 

 of 110 feet per minute, making printings, whilst for the manufacture of 

 writings there is a machine with no less than thirty, 36 inch steam-drying 

 cylinders before sizeing, and 272 drying drums after ; and such is the 

 extent of surface developed by the latter that, supposing the machine to 

 be running at the rate of 50 feet per minute, the paper would take an 

 hour to go over the whole series. Such machines as those just named 

 are marvels of mechanical skill. The tide of opinion amongst the 

 makers is now turning in favour of large machines and high speeds, but 

 a long time must elapse before anything like a general substitution of 

 the new for the old can be reasonably expected. 



A celebrated statesman once electrified the House of Commons by 

 asking the question — What is a pound ? And were we asked — What is 

 a paper-maker ? the question would not be more embarrassing. To say 

 that a paper-maker is a manufacturer of paper is very well ; but that 

 conveys to the mind of the inquirer no definite idea of his acquirements. 

 Speaking of a mechanical engineer, the conclusion is almost inevitable 

 that he is a mechanic, and, as such, conversant with both the science and 

 practice of his business. The same thing cannot, however, be predicated 

 of a paper-maker. All sound and successful paper-making must be based 

 on an intimate acquaintance with the practice of chemistry. This truth 

 is just beginning to obtain recognition, although the fact must have been 

 patent to the old school of makers for a great many years. As a rule, 

 the paper-makers of this country are woefully deficient in chemical know- 

 ledge even of the most elementary character, and their loss has in con- 

 sequence been proportionately great. Even amongst chemists the 

 chemistry of the paper manufacture is regarded as a speciality, involving 

 a facile use of the microscope in determining the structure of fibre. Of 

 all this an ordinary paper-maker of the present day is profoundly igno- 

 rant. A pail and a hand bowl are his standards of measure ; and this 

 rude system — for there is method in it all — is even used in the most 

 delicate chemical operations in a mill. Take, for example, the making 

 of resin-size. Most descriptions of printing papers are engine-sized — 

 that is, a certain proportion of size, composed of resin digested in carbo- 



