‘ Mrscellaneous. | 259 
crushed between the fingers. After washing, followed by tutura- 
tion, the stuff was converted into paper. The numerous patents 
taken out with the same object, are based upon analogous prin- 
ciples. Schinz managed to make packing paper of considerable 
strength, by mixing 50 per cent. of coarse rags with straw pulp, 
prepared in the following manner :—220 lbs. ‘avoir.’ of wheat 
straw, finely chopped, and 176 lbs. of quicklime were placed in a 
caldron with a sufficient amount of water to form a pulp. The 
mixture was stirred, and poured into a second boiler every day for 
a fortnight. This material was then reduced to pulp, and mixed 
with the rag pulp in the beating. engine. The product obtained 
was half-sized, of a yellowish tinge, and great strength. Straw 
contains a yellow colouring matter, which is, more or less, com- 
municated to the paper, unless subjected to a succession of boil- 
ings and bleachings, with gaseous or liquid chlorine. In this case 
the waste of material is very much increased. The majority of 
manufacturers who employ straw, are satisfied with subjecting it 
to maceration with lime, and succeed in making common wrap- 
ping paper, for which there is a considerable demand at present. 
If, however, we wish to make common printing paper, such as 
newspaper, &c., of straw pulp, it is indispensable to bleach with 
repeated chlorine, and acid baths. The mixture is then made in 
the proportion of :— 
25 to 4o per cent. of straw pulp. 
75 to60 4, 4, rag pulp. 
The manufacture is thus only profitable in localities where 
chemicals are at a low price. We have seen very handsome 
papers made in England, 80 to go per cent. of straw, but it 
remains to be seen whether the profits will render the process 
practicable. The nature of the straw and the composition of the 
soil in which it is grown, are not unimportant matters to the paper 
maker. ‘The hardness of straws proceeds from the quantity of 
silica interspersed throughout their substance, and forming an 
obstacle to their conversion into paper, by binding together the 
fibrous parts of the stalk. The straw to be chosen is that of 
wheat, as being the most tender. ‘This fact is in accordance with 
chemical analysis, which gives the following proportions of silica 
contained in the three principal cereals of our soil :— 
1st. Wheat straw, 4°3 per cent. of silica. 
2nd. Rye 29 6° 3% ry) ” 
3rd. Barley _,, 6°9 al) roe 
The knots of graminious plants in general are injected with a 
much greater quantity of silica than the intermediate parts, and 
should therefore be carefully removed when the straw is to be 
converted into white paper pulp. Among other straws which 
have been tried we will mention maize, which gives a naturally- 
sized paper of great strength, and which at one time very much 
excited public attention. Maize stalks unbleached, only boiled 
