122 
PAPEB, ITS USES. 
Chap. VHL 
I may here mention in passing that Japanese 
paper is made chiefly out of the bark of the paper 
mulberry ( Broussonetia papyrifera). It is parti- 
cularly well suited for decorative purposes, such 
as the papering of rooms. It has a glossy, silky, 
and comfortable appearance, and many of the 
patterns are extremely chaste and pretty. The 
fan pattern, which looked as if fans had been 
thrown all over the surface, used to be much 
admired by the foreign residents. For some reason 
it is made in very small sheets, which would 
render it rather inconvenient to our paper-hangers. 
This, however, is no detriment in Japan, where 
labour is cheap. Japanese oil-paper is of a very 
superior quality, and is used for a variety of 
purposes. For a very small sum one can be clothed 
in a “ Mackintosh ” coat and trowsers capable of 
keeping out any amount of rain. As a wrapper 
to protect silk goods and other valuable fabrics 
from wet and damp it is invaluable, and owing to 
its great strength it is often used instead of a tin 
or lead casing. Despatch-boxes, looking like 
leather, and very hard and durable, are also made 
of paper, and so are letter-bags, purses, cigar-cases, 
umbrellas, and many other articles in daily use. 
In addition to those purposes to which paper is 
applied in western countries, in Japan it is used 
for windows instead of glass, for the partitions of 
rooms instead of lath and plaster, for fans and 
fan-cases, for twine, and in a variety of other 
ways. 
