Paper Making Lore

In all ages people have been compelled to commuuicate with each othor. At a very early period of the world's existence i some material on whioh to inscribe any information which theywished toconvey to others was found necessary. Verbal messages, though of ten employed byancient uations as a means of communication, were not always possible to use. Secrets had often to be transmitted, and i t was asevere trial of a bcarer's fidelity to intrust him with private affairs. Many tales are related in history and in legends of tvusty messengers who yielded up their lives rather than make known the secret, which no torture could rag froni their lips Still f ailures were ot uncommou, and human ingenuity et to work to invent some material on vhich to inscribe signs which could be understood at a distance. As people grew more civilized. a demand aróse for some material on which ecords and histories might be writteu nd handed down to posterity. Stones were probably the earliest form of writng material. Even at the present day n marjy parts of the world stones are ound bearing inscriptions. It would eem that among the earlier races of mankind any record of great importance vas generally engraved upon stone, as being the moro likely to be permanent. ?he sanio feeling may be traced in the jresent generation, the inscriptions on ombs, foundation stones of public buildiiis and ninnnments. Stones not being convenient for the ransmission of long messages, thongh ddmirably adapted for reoeivirig iuscripious intended to out) ast dynasties, other materials were tried. Lead, brass and )ricks were all found to resemble stone oo mucb in its property of not being jortable. Lead was found to be the jest, as it could be beaten out into thin sheets and written upon with iron or steel instruments. lts weight, however, was against it. ïablets of wood, wax and ivory, skins of fishes, intestines of serpents, were all employed as substitutes and were found to combine the requirements of portability, durability and facility of receiving writing. The bark of trees when once tried was found to be superior to most of the other materials, and it was employed largely till the introduction of paper. Ihere are but few kinds of plant9 or trees which have not been used in the manufacture of books and paper, and the various terms employed by the 3lassic authors denote the several parts which were written on, such as biblos, codex, liber, tabula and others. Of paper proper itself, it is perhaps needless to remind our readers that the name is derived from the papyrus, a reed growing on the banks of the Nile. Though figypt is generally supposed to be the source whence carne the idèa of making paper, evidence is not wanting in favor of the theory that the Chinese were acquainted with the art at a very early period. The Chinese process is more ingenious than that of the ancient Egyptians, being more of a ture, properly speaking, tlian the other. The Egyptian paper made from the papyrus was made by laying thin plates of tissue, taken from the niiddle of the paper rush, side by side, but close together, on a hard, smooth table. Other pieces were then laid across the first at right augles. Thevholewas moistened with the water of the Nile, which was supposed to have some agglutinating property (though this probably resided in the plant itself), and pressure was then applied tor a certain number of hours. Thus a sheet of paper was formed which required no other finishing than rubbiug and polishing with a smooth stono or with asolid glass hemisphere and drying in the sun. ïhis simple process was rather a preparación of a natural paper than a manufacture. The process adopted by the Chinese comes, as already remarked, more legitimately uuder that head The small branches of a tree resembling a mulberry tree are cut by them in lengths of about 3 feet and boiled in an alkaline lye forthe sake of loosening the inner rind of bark, which is then peeled off and dried for use. When a sufficientquautity of bark has been tlius laid up, it is agaiu softened in water for three or font days, and the oute.1 parts are scraped off as useless. There;t is boiled in clear lye, which is kept strongly agitated all the time until the bark has become tender and separatad into distinct fibers. It is then placed in a pau or sieve and washed in a running stream, being at the same time worked with the hands until it becomes a delicate and soft pulp. For the finer sorts of paper the pulp receives a secoud washing in a Unen bag. It is then spread out on a smooth table and beaten with a woodea mallet until it is extremely fine. So far the manufacture is very much like what is carried on by the paper makers of the present day, they having the advantage of better materials than the bark of trees, and machinery now performs all the laborious washing and pulping processes. The iugenuity of the Chinese in inveuting so complicated a process ia far suDerior to that of the Egyptians. -