282 TlMEHRI. 
by H. T. STOKES, Esquire, of Plantation Nonpareil : — 
Cleanliness is of the utmost importance in all stages connected with the 
produ&ion of paper, and the megass is therefore preferably taken direct 
from the rollers of the cane-mill immediately after crushing. This also 
forestalls deterioration due to fermentation. 
A strongly made and powerful converter, lined with lead and weigh- 
ing about thirty tons, receives this megass, with which it is closely 
packed, and the raw material is now subjected to the first operation it 
has to undergo of boiling under great pressure in water containing a 
proper amount of sulphurous acid more or less in combination with an 
alkali or base as shall be necessary to prevent the oxidation of the 
organic matter. For perfect success, the base must be such a substance 
as will form tolerably soluble compounds with sulphurous acid. 
Of these, potash and magnesia are the most available ; magnesia 
being by far the cheapest, and in other respects admirably adapted for 
the purpose. It has therefore been chosen for this process. 
The exact proportions required depend upon a variety of circum- 
stances ; the density of the raw material and the consequent pressure 
required ; the constituents of the raw material, and the extent to which 
it is required to remove the incrusting matters which surround the 
fibres. 
The knowledge of some general laws combined with practical expe- 
rience enables the operator to judge to a nicety the exact proportions 
and the extent of boiling necessary to produce the desired result with 
certainty and economy. 
The duration of the stage of boiling has, with us, generally extended 
over a period of from six to eight hours, and should be as short as pos- 
sible. When sufficiently treated, the contents of the converter are 
blown out under moderate pressure through a valve specially arranged 
for the purpose, and are received in a large pulp-box conveniently 
placed close to the converter, and several samples of this pulp were on 
view at the recent exhibition. 
The Pulp is now thoroughly washed and lightly beaten in a specially 
constructed machine called the " Potcher," after which treatment it is 
emptied out somewhat in the form and appearance of gruel into the 
stuff-chest, where it is gently stirred, and awaits the final stage of the 
process which moulds it into a marketable commodity. 
It is perhaps desirable here to mention that this " stuff," so closely 
resembling gruel, is a very small percentage of softened megass fibre 
