302 
Additional Notice on Cooling Wines . 
[Oct. 
tiling that is fibrous. The Chinese paper is so fine, that many of the "Europeans 
have thought it was made of silk ; not considering, says DuHalde, that silk cannot 
he beat into such a paste, as is necessary to make paper ; but it is to be observed, 
that the same author afterwards speaks of a paper, or parchment, made of the 
balls of silk worms ; and the like, we are assured by others, is done at Cathay. 
The incalculable advantages which the moderns have derived from the art of 
printing, would have been only imperfectly known, but for the invention ot'linen rag 
paper. It lias been observed by a French writer, that the dispatch of the processes 
of paper making is so great, that five workmen in a mill, may furnish sufficient pa- 
per for the continual labour of 3000 transcribers. The European process of mak- 
ing paper admits of three divisions 5 viz. the preparing of the rags, the forming of 
the sheets, and the finishing of the paper. The succession of the several proces- 
ses is as follows : 1st, the rags are washed, or dusted, if they are dirty ; then sorted 
into many qualities proper for different purposes. 2. The raga are bleached, 
to render them white; but this operation is sometimes deferred to the next 
stage of the process. 3. The washing engine of the paper mill is employed to 
grind the rags in water, till they are reduced to a coarse or imperfect pulp, called 
half-stuffi or first stuff, in which state the bleaching is sometimes performed, or at 
other times it is bleached in the washing engine during the grinding. 4. The half - 
stuff is again ground in the beating engine, and water added in sufficient quantity 
to make a fine pulp ; which being conveyed to the vat, the preparation of the rags is 
completed, and the pulp or stuff is ready for making the sheets. 5. This is done by 
a workman, who takes up a quantity of pulp upon a mould of fine wire cloth, through 
which the water drains away, and the pulp coagulates into a sheet of paper. 
6. Another workman takes the sheet of paper off from the wire mould, and receives'it 
upon a felt ; he then covers it over with a second felt, evenly spread out ; and conti- 
nues this operation, which is called couching , till he has made a pile of sheets call- 
ed a past. , containing six quires. 7. The past of paper, with the felts, is placed in 
the vat-press, and the whole is subjected to a strong pressure, to press out the super- 
fluous water, and give the paper a solidity and firmness it would not otherwise have. 
8. The pile of paper is removed from the vat-press, the felts taken out from be- 
tween the sheets, and they are pressed again by themselves for a certain time, in a 
screw press . 9. The sheets are taken from the press, and hung up, five or six together, 
on lines in the drying loft, till dry. The paper is now made, and only requires to be 
finished ; but it should he observed, that the greater number of the processes of 
finishing are only performed upon fine writing paper, common printing paper being 
ready for packing up when dried. 10. The paper, in five or six sheets together, is 
dipped into a tub of fine size, ami afterwards pressed, to force out the superfluity ; it 
is then dried again in the drying loft; but in printing paper, this process is rendered 
unnecessary, by sizing the stuff whilst in the engine, and adding certain ingredients. 
1 1. The examination of each individual sheet of paper is made, all knots and burs 
are removed, and the bad sheets taken out. 12. A very large pile of paper is made, 
and pressed with immense force, to render the sheets flat and smooth. 13. The 
pile is taken down sheet by sheet, and another made, and without turning the sheets 
over ; by this means new surfaces of the sheets are brought in contact with each 
other, and the pile being again subjected to the press, the surface of the paper is 
improved. This operation is called parting, and is repeated two or three times for 
the best papers. The paper is now counted into quires, and packed up into reams 
for market. Thus, one of the dirtiest and least promising of articles is converted 
into one of the most beautiful and even delicate ; and thus a material is made by art, 
capable of bearing our thoughts and feelings through time and space : which in its 
rude and unimproved state, would appear only fitted to be cast forth or trodden 
under foot. G. W. 
VIII . — Additional Notice on Cooling Wines . 
In our last number We re-published a letter from Dr. Walker of Oxford, on the 
means of producing artificial cold, with reference to cooling wines. The experi- 
ments having been followed up in Calcutta, a short account of some practical results 
may not be unacceptable to our readers, as affording them instructions how to obtain 
with certainty, and at a small expense, one of the greatest luxuries in a hot climate, 
where ice cannot be procured* 
