king should appear as a scrub before strangers.” When the frame-work knitters of silk stockings petitioned 
Oliver Cromwell for a charter, they said, "the Englishman buys silk of the stranger for twenty marks, and 
sells him the same again for one hundred pounds.” But now we buy three millions and a half pounds of 
raw silk from the stranger, employ half a million of our own people in the manufacture of it by the aid of 
machinery, and sell it to them and the stranger, at a price as low as that of the calico of half a century ago. 
To supply this one luxury to us, fourteen thousand millions of animated creatures yearly live, labour, and 
die ! Still greater must be the number in China, where all, from the Emperor to the peasant, wear silk. A 
species of mulberry is cultivated in Japan for the manufacture of paper, and hence it is called the paper-mul- 
berry. For this purpose it is raised in beds, as osiers are cultivated with us for the use of the basket maker 
and the cooper. When the leaves have fallen off, that is about the month of December, the shoots are cut 
down, divided into lengths of about three feet, bound into bundles, placed upright and close together in a 
copper, and boiled till the bark is completely loosened from the wood. Should they be dry before being 
subjected to boiling, they are prepared for that operation by maceration in water for twenty-four hours. 
After the rods are cold, the bark is divided lengthwise by a knife ; stripped off, and dried for use. When 
about to be used, it is put into water till it is so much soaked that the external and coloured part of the bark 
can be separated. That being done, the bark is sorted, the strongest being set apart for the best and whitest 
paper, and the weaker for that of inferior quality ; while of the refuse a very coarse brown paper is made. 
The sorted bark is then boiled till it becomes tender, that is till it easily separates with the fingers, and then 
it is washed for a longer or shorter time according to the quality of paper wanted. If strong writing-paper, 
the washing must be moderate, but if the colour is to be very delicate, and the texture soft and silky, the 
washing must be more prolonged. When properly washed, it is taken to a table and there reduced to a pulp, 
by beating with wooden mallets. When sufficiently reduced, it is brought to the requisite consistency with 
water; rice starch, and the mucilaginous infusion of manihot root, are added by way of size; and then the 
sheets of paper are formed, one by one, upon a table, collected into heaps, and pressed by a weight. 
Charles Williams. 
"May,” says Peacham, "must be drawn with a sweet and amiable countenance, clad in a robe of white 
and green, embroidered with daffodils, hawthorns and blue-bottles.” And May has a sweet and amiable 
face, in spite of the occasional frowns with which it is overclouded. A pleasant season it is for those who 
are capable of pleasing emotions. Yet there are some whose melancholy is increased by the gaiety of nature 
around them, and who feel it more easy to endure the grey sky and nipping blasts of December, than to enjoy 
the fragrant gales of June. The following lines seem inspired by a sentiment of this kind. 
The winter fled, sweet May is here, 
The thrushes to the purple year 
Their joyous tribute bring ; 
But ah ! to me no joy returns, 
In this cold heart no passion burns, 
Life knows no second spring ! 
No more on me bright eyes shall shine, 
Nor Susan more than half divine 
Those plaintive ballads sing ; 
Nor wife, nor friend to cheer my way, 
I live the solitary day, 
Nor hope a second spring. 
Then farewell every earthly dream, 
Henceforth be mine a higher theme, 
Upwards each thought take wing ; 
God of the just ! my soul prepare 
Thy blest abode with thee to share, 
Be there my second spring ! 
Qualities.— M ulberries are inodorous, possess a sweet sub-acid taste, and yield a fine rich-coloured 
juice, which contains tartaric acid, jelly, and mucus. 
Medical Properties and Uses. — This fruit is very grateful to the parched mouths of fever-patients, 
but is apt to produce diarrhoea if eaten too freely. The syrup is used in gargles, on account of its acidulating 
properties and its beautiful colour. According to Bergius, the bark of the root has been successfully ad- 
ministered in doses of half a drachm, to expel the tape-worm. He also asserts that it acts on the bowels. 
Off. Prep, — Syrupus Mori. L, 
