Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1883-12-06
NUMBER Is.


flce paper Is mal6rlal SO Qe1caDc
and filmy that at the first glance one
would think it i'll adapted to receive
writing or printing; but it is much used
for those purposes, and we have seen
beautiful little volume composed of and
filed with exquisite paintings Of flowers.
1t is made from the pith Of a leguminous
plant, which the Chinese import from
India and the island of Formosa, where
it grows in abundance. The pith, hav-
ing been prepared Of the desired length
for the sheet, is cut spirally into thin
slice, which ia then fattened, pressed
and dried 1t obtains its name by re-
ceiving sizing wholly or principally Of
rice water The similarity of this process
to the preparation Of papyrus is 50
striking as to render it probable that i
was suggested by it,
Bark Paper is made from the smaller
branches of variety Of the mulberry
tree. The bark, after being separated
from the stem by boiling in lye, is mace
rated in water for several days; the outer
part scraped off, and the inner boiled and
stirred in lye until it separates. It il
then washed in pan or sieve, and worked
by the hands into pulp, which is after
ward spread on table and beaten fine
with mallet. 1t is next placed in tub
with an infusion Of rice and a root called
oreni, and all thoroughly mixed. The
sheets are formed by dipping mold
made Of strips Of bullrushes, confined In
frame into the vat. After molding,
the sheets are laid upon one another with
strips Of reed between. A board loaded
with weights is then laid upon the pile
to express the water, and when that il
accomplished they are separated and dried
in the sun. This paper is even more del
icate than the rice; SO much 50 that when
it is necessary to write on both sides.of
page two must be glued together Sup
posing, as the natural order seems to
suggest, that the rice paper was the first
and the bark the second made by the
Chinese, we have here the first appear
ance Of the pulping process in the manu-
facture. The bamboo paper, made from
the fiber Of that plant, reduced to pulp
and gathered in films, is, however, very
ancient, and possibly older than the bark.
The silk paper is the victim Of mis-
nomer, arising from the misinformation
of early travellers, which it has been
found almost impossible to correct, for it
is commonly believed to be made of a
few silken rags, or little refuse silk may
occasionally be mixed with other nate
rial, they cannot by themselves be re-
duced to pulp suitable for making
paper The silk paper Of China is made,
like our own, from cotton and linen rags,
hemp, manufactured cotton, and the
like, sometimes mingled with wood and
bamboo pulp, and possibly with little
ilk The rags, cotton and hemp are
prepared by being cut ana well washed
They are then bleached, and by natural
maceration of twelve days duration con
verted into pulp. This is made into
balls weighing about four pounds, which,
having been saturated with water, are
spread upon frame Of fine reeds and
pressed under heavy weights. The dry
ing is completed by suspension Of the
sheets upon the wall Of a proper room;
and they are finished by being coated
with gum size, and polished with some
smooth, hard substance. The sheets are
sometimes of very large dimensions
reaching twelve feet in length with a
corresponding breadth, the molds being
managed by the aid of pulleys.-HistOTg
of PTDer-