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XI.— THE MICROSCOPE IN THE PAPER-MILL. 
By James Strachan, F.Inst.P., F.R.M.S. 
{Bead Jtme 21, 1922.) 
1. Historical. 
The Microscope appears to have been introduced to the paper 
industry early in the nineteenth century by paper-makers who 
were amateur microscopists. The writer has an old simple micro- 
scope which was used successively by three generations of an old 
Scottish paper-making family. 
During the first half of the century, from the introduction of 
the paper machine about the year 1807 to the early fifties, paper 
was made in this country almost exclusively from rags, and the 
primary use of the microscope, that of distinguishing the vegetable 
sources of various fibres, was thus limited. In the second half of 
the century, however, which witnessed the introduction of straw, 
esparto grass, wood and other new raw materials, paper-making 
rapidly developed into one of the most important industries in 
Great Britain. During this period we established a world-wide 
reputation for the manufacture of fine paper, and this we still 
maintain. 
With the introduction of new fibres, the use of the microscope 
in paper-making became more apparent, and when towards the 
end of the century paper-makers began to employ trained scientific 
men, the latter found this optical instrument already in extensive 
use in the industry. What the English paper-maker owes to the 
amateur microscopist, and exactly how much we are indebted to 
the latter, can hardly be appreciated at the present day. The 
writer has had occasion to enquire into the history of many of the 
pioneers of modern paper-making in this country, and he was 
surprised, but not astonished, to find that the majority were 
amateur microscopists. 
The foundations of fibre histology were laid down by Quekett 
in his “ Lectures on Histology ” (1851), and were first applied 
specifically to the examination of paper by Suffolk in his “ Micro- 
scopical Manipulation” (1869) — a series of lectures delivered 
before the Quekett Club. The scientific study of the microscopical 
examination of fibres from the technical side was continued in 
valuable publications by Wiesner (Wien, 1867) and Yetillart 
(Paris, 1876). The technology of paper microscopy was specially 
