371 
PAPER. 
them from the wire of the mould ; they alfo prevent them 
from adhering together, and, imbibing part of the water 
with which the paper is charged, tranfmit the whole ol it 
when placed under theaftionof the vat-prefs. 
The moulding of the paper is performed by three work¬ 
men, the dipper, the coitc/ter, and the lifter. The firlt of 
thefe, having filled the vat with pulp, imift be attentive to 
mix it up well; for this purpofe, he employs two imple¬ 
ments, one of which is a fimpie pole, and the other a pole 
armed with a piece of board, rounded and full of holes. 
This operation is repeated as often as the fluff falls to the 
bottom,. In the principal mills they ufe for this purpofe 
what is called a hog-, which is a machine within the vat, 
that, by means of a fmall wheel on theoutlide, is made to 
turn conftantly round, and keep the fluff in perpetual 
motion, The dipper ftands in a nitch, or hollow part, of 
that kind of ledge or table which goes round the circum¬ 
ference of the vat; he holds the mould in both hands, 
by the two extremities, with the deckle applied exaftly 
over it, as if only one piecej then, inclining it a little 
towards him, he dips it into the vat, and brings it up again 
into a horizontal pofition. The fuperfluous part of the 
pulp flows over on all fides, and the quantity thought 
fufficient is fltaken gently from the right to the left, and 
up and down horizontally, until it is equally extended 
over the whole furface of the mould. Thefe two motions 
are alfo accompanied by a flight fhake, that ferves to fix 
and flop the ftieet. As the water drains through the 
wire, the fibrous parts of the fluff arrange themfelves re¬ 
gularly on the wire-cloth of the mould, not only in pro¬ 
portion as the water efcapes, but alfo as the workman fa¬ 
vours this effeft by gently fltaking the mould. This done, 
the mould is immediately laid on the edge of the vat, the 
deckle taken off, and the mould made to Aide along the 
board which is laid acrofs the vat, to the part where the 
flieet is to be laid or taken off. This board, which is but 
two inches in breadth where the ftieet is laid, is nothing 
more than a deal board, which runs along the length of 
the vat, and is pierced with feveral holes at the extremity, 
for letting the mould drain into the vat. The dipper, 
taking the deckle off the firft mould, places it immedi¬ 
ately on a fecond, which is given him for dipping in its 
turn; and the fecond workman, called the coucher, taking 
the mould off the board that runs acrofs the vat with the 
left hand, raifes it gently, and lays it in an inclined pofi¬ 
tion againft one or two fmall pins, which are driven into 
the board on the edge of the vat. In this condition the 
mould remains two or three feconds of time for draining 
into the vat, whilft the coucher extends a felt, on which 
he applies the mould to take off the flieet ; which being 
done, he returns the mould to the dipper. They proceed 
in this manner, laying alternately a flieet and a felt, till 
they have made fix quires of paper,^vhicli is called a poji; 
and this they do with fuch fvviftnefs, that in many forts of 
paper two men make upwards of twenty polls in a day. 
When the laft flieet of the poll is covered with the laft 
felt, all the workmen about the vat unite together, and 
fubmit file heap to the adfion of the vat-prefs. They be¬ 
gin at firft to prel's it with a middling lever, and after¬ 
wards with a lever about fifteen feet in length. 
The dipper fliould be attentive, in diftributing the 
matter on the mould, to reinforce the corner the coucher 
is to take hold of, in railing and extending the (heets; for, 
without this precaution, he would break a great many. 
Alfo,'if he takes up too much matter with his mould, if 
he does not equally extend it, or if he ftrikes his mould 
againft the drainer; in all thefe cafes the matter is accu¬ 
mulated in certain parts of the mould, producing fome- 
thing like ridges in the paper ; or, if he lets the matter reft 
on the mould, and does not diftribute it immediately, 
there will be parts of unequal thicknefs. When the vat 
is too hot, the llretching-out of the flieet will be ill per¬ 
formed, becaufe the water evaporates too loon from the 
mould. Add to this, that in letting the matter run to¬ 
wards one of the edges, by not giving his arm a regular 
mbtioh, he may form a feather-edged paper; which may 
likewife happen if he does not extend his fluff fufficiently, 
or if the vat be too hot, or the fecula of the pulp too 
crude, fo as not to run well; if his arms are too fluff, and 
if he gives a bad fliake ; or if the mould be ill made. 
In conlequence of the conftruftion of the mould, it is 
eafy to perceive that the Iheets of paper will take, and 
preferve, the impreflion of all the wires which compofe it, 
and of the empty fpaces between them. This is feen in 
examining a flieet of paper before the light, a greater 
opacity heing found on both fides of each brafs wire than 
towards the midft of the fpace. This thicknefs is occa- 
lioned by the pulp, which the motion of the mould could 
not diftribute, being flopped by the fmall wires, and ftill 
more by the large crofs-wires. This defe£l is completely 
remedied by the improvement of weaving the wire of the 
mould like cloth. The traces of the old wires are moft 
evidently perceived on the fide of the ftieet which was 
attached to the mould, and on the other fide they form 
an aflemblage of rounded rifirigs. In the paper which is 
moft highly finiftied, the regularity of thefe impreflions 
is ftill vifible ; therefore it is evident, that all the opera¬ 
tions to which it is fubmitted, have chiefly in view to 
foften thefe impreflions w’ithout deftroying them ; it is 
neceffary, therefore, to attend to the combination of la¬ 
bour which operates on thefe impreflions. The coucher, 
in turning the mould on the felt, flattens a little the 
rounded eminences, which are in relievo on one of the 
futffaces, and occafions, at the fame time, the hollow 
places made by the wire cloth to be partly filled up; 
meanwhile the effort which is made in detaching the pa¬ 
per, produces ail indefinite number of fmall hairs on every 
protuberant part of the ftieet. Under tlfe'ftiiftion of the 
prel's, firft with felts, and then without them, the perfect¬ 
ing of the grain of paper ftill goes on. The veftiges of the 
protuberances made by the wires of the mould are alto¬ 
gether flattened, and in confequence the hollows oppofite 
them difappear alfo, but the traces formed by the inter- 
ftices of the wire, in confequence of their thicknefs, ap¬ 
pear on both fides, and are rounded by the prefs. 
The grain of the paper is often disfigured by the felts 
when they are too much tiled, or when the wool does not 
cover the thread. In this cafe, when the paper is fubmit¬ 
ted to the prefs, it takes the additional traces of the warp 
and woof, and compofes a furface extremely irregular. 
The two fides of the felt are differently railed, and that on 
which the hair is longed is applied to the Iheets which 
are laid down; and any alteration of this difpolition 
would produce a change in the texture of the paper. The 
fluff of which the felts are made fliould be fufficiently 
ftrong, in order that it may be ftretched exaftly on the 
Iheets, without falling into folds, and at the fame time 
fufficiently pliant to yield in any direction, without in¬ 
jury to the wet paper. As the felts have to refill the 
reiterated efforts of the prefs, it appears neceffary that the 
warp be made ftrong, of combed wool, and well twilled. 
On the other hand, as they have to imbibe a certain 
quantity of water, and to retain it, it is neceffary that the 
wmof be of carded wool, and drawn out into a flack 
thread. 
The paper remains in the vat-prefs during the time that 
the next poll of paper is preparing; and, when it is removed 
to make room for that, the bufinefs of the third workman, 
called the lifter, begins : he is to take the Iheets off the 
felt, (for they are caufed to adhere to them by the aClion 
of the prefs,) and then make the iheets up into a fecond 
pile; but, if the coucher works too fall, and the lifter 
finds himielf hard preffed, he cannot llretch out his Iheets 
exaflly upon one another, fo as to make a neat and coin- 
pad pile, which is very neceffary to make paper of a regu¬ 
lar and equal thicknels, when put under a lecond or wet- 
prefs, which is done as foon as feveral or the piles are com¬ 
pleted, and can be collected together. This fecond pref- 
l'ure, being made with all the iheets in contact with each 
other, expreffes a great quantity of water from the paper, 
3 and 
