THE TECHNOLOGIST. [March l, 1864. 



338 THE PAPER-TREE OF SI AM. 



Samnt on which the drafts are written is fcrarteen inches in length, and 

 four inches in breadth. It is folded up in such a manner that the writer, 

 having filled one page, has merely to turn over to commence a second, 

 and then he continues in the same manner nntil sixty, if the importance 

 of the matter requires it, are filled up in a similar manner ; so that, when 

 the book has been entirely employed, and is spread out, it will extend 

 to twenty-one feet. There are, however, others of less size. 



The tree which yields the bark is Tropins aspera, of Wildenow, a 

 species of the Ramon tree of the West Indies, the leaves of the latter of 

 which are frequently nsed for fodder for cattle and horses when, during 

 the dry season, grass is scarce. The scabrous state of the East Indian 

 species would prevent this. 



The paper-tree is called by the Siamese " Ton- Khai," and is by no 

 means uncommon. It is to be found as well on the alluvial soil of 

 Siarn, as up the country, for three hundred or four hundred miles 

 from the sea-shore. The trees which I have seen were only of 

 middle size, but I understand that the trunks of old trees reach a dia- 

 meter of from two to three feet. But it is not such old trees which are 

 used for the manufacture of paper — those as thick as a man's thigh are 

 preferred. After they have been cut down, and the superfluous branches 

 lopped off, they are laid in pieces of about three feet in length for a short 

 time on a coal fire, which facilitates the stripping of the bark. The 

 latter is then steeped in water for Wo days, after which the liber is 

 easily separated from the outer bark, which is of a dark colour, but not 

 entirely useless, as it is added to the stuff for making black paper. 

 The liber is now kneaded, and put on a wooden table, round which, in 

 the present instance, I saw sitting three men, beating the mass with 

 mallets nntil it came to a certain consistency ; it was then placed in 

 baskets, the bottoms of which were constructed like a sieve, and water 

 having been added, the pulp is percolated free of impurities and fibres. 

 This mass was then spread equally on perforated cloth within frames, 

 of the size the paper was to possess, and taken to the adjacent canal, 

 dipped three or four times into it, when the frame was raised slightly 

 out of the water, and a stick of smooth bamboo about as thick as the 

 size of a finger and of the length of the sheet, rolled carefully four 

 or five times over the mass, which then adhered and formed a smooth 

 surface. The frame was now taken out of the water, and placed in a 

 somewhat slanting direction against a scaffolding to dry. 



The proprietor told me, that with fair weather, and three or four 

 assistants, the materials being prepared, only requiring their being 

 beaten into a mass, he could make 100 sheets in a day (each about 6 

 feet in length and 16 inches in breadth), for which he receives from the 

 retail merchant, 4 ticals (10 dols.), the latter sells them at 1 fuang (3f d.) 

 for two sheets. There are likewise sheets of smaller size, not much 

 larger than our usual foolscap. 



I have it not in my power to state how much matter, convertible 



