Sheets of a thin matter, made of some vegetable substance.

The materials on which mankind have, in different ages, contrived to write their sentiments, have been extremely various; in the early ages they made use of stones, and tablets of wood, wax, ivory, &c. See Book.

Paper, with regard to the manner of making it, and the materials employed therein, is reducible to several kinds; as Egyptian paper, made of the rush papyrus; bark-paper, made of the inner rind of several trees; cotton-paper; incombustible paper; and European paper, made of linen rags.

Egyptian paper was principally used among the ancients; being made of the papyrus, or biblis, a species of rush which grew on the bank of the Nile. In making it into paper, they began with lopping off the two extremes of the plant, the head and the root; the remaining part, which was the stem, they cut lengthwise into two nearly equal parts, and from each of these they stripped the scaly pelicles of which it consisted. The innermost of these pelicles were looked on as the best, and that nearest the rind as the worst; they were therefore kept apart, and made to constitute two different sorts of paper. As the pelicles were taken off, they extended them on a table, laying them over each other transversely, so as that the fibres made right angles: in this state they were glued together by the muddy waters of the Nile; or, when those were not to be had, with paste made of the finest wheat-flour, mixed with hot water and a sprinkling of vinegar. The pelicles were next pressed to get out the water, then dried, and lastly flatted and smoothed by beating them with a mallet: this was the Egyptian paper, which was sometimes farther polished by rubbing it with a glass-ball, or the like.

Bark-paper was only the inner whitish rind, inclosed between the bark and the wood of several trees, as the maple, plane, beech, and elm; but especially the tilia, or linden-tree, which was that mostly used for this purpose. On this stripped off, flatted, and dried, the ancients wrote books, several of which are said to be still extant.

Chinese paper is of various kinds. Some is made of the rinds or barks of trees, especially the mulberry-tree and elm, but chiefly of the bamboo and cotton-tree. In fact, almost each province has its several paper. The preparations of paper made of the barks of trees, may be instanced in that of the bamboo, which is a tree of the cane or reed kind. The second skin of the bark, which is soft and white, is ordinarily made use of for paper: this is beat in fair water to a pulp, which they take up in large moulds, so that some sheets are above twelve feet in length; they are completed, by dipping them sheet by sheet in alum-water; which serves instead of the size among us, and not only hinders the paper from imbibing the ink, but makes it look as if varnished over. This paper is white, soft, and close, without the least roughness; though it cracks more easily than European paper, is very subject to be eaten by the worms, and its thinness makes it liable to be soon worn out.

Cotton-paper is a sort of paper which has been in use upwards of 600 years. In the French king's library are manuscripts on this paper, which appear to be of the 10th century; and from the 12th century, cotton manuscripts are more frequent than parchment ones. Cotton-paper is still made in the East Indies, by beating cotton-rags to a pulp.

Linen or European paper appears to have been first introduced among us towards the beginning of the 14th century; but by whom this valuable commodity was invented, is not known. The method of making paper of linen or hempen rags, is as follows: The linen-rags being carried to the mill, are first sorted, then washed very clean in puncheons, whose sides are grated with strong wires, and the bottoms bored full of holes. After this they are fermented, by laying them in heaps close covered with facking, till they sweat and rot, which is commonly done in four or five days. When duly fermented, they are twisted into handfuls, cut small, and thrown into oval mortars, made of well-seasoned oak, about half a yard deep, with an iron-plate at bottom, an inch thick, eight inches broad, and thirty long; in the middle is a washing-block, grooved, with five holes in it, and a piece of hair-twine fastened on the inside; this keeps the hammers from touching it, and prevents anything going out except foul water. These mortars are continually supplied with water, by little troughs from a cistern, fed by buckets fixed to the several floats of a great wheel, which raises the wooden hammers for pounding the rags in the mortars. When the rags are beaten to a certain degree, called the first stuff, the pulp is removed into boxes, made like corn-chandlers bins, with the bottom-board allant, and a little separation on the front for the water to drain away. The pulp of the rags being in, they take away as many of the front-boards as are needful, and press the mass hard down with their hands; the next day they put on another board, and add more pulp, till the box is full; and here it remains mellowing a week, more or less, according to the weather. After this, the stuff is again put into clean mortars, and is beaten afresh, and removed into boxes, as before; in which state it is called the The mass is beat a third time, till some of it being mixed with fair water, and brewed to and fro, appears like flour and water, without any lumps in it; it is then fit for the pit-mortar, where it is perfectly dissolved, and is then carried to the vat, to be formed into sheets of paper. But lately, instead of pounding the rags to a pulp with large hammers, as above, they make use of an engine, which performs the work in much less time. This engine consists of a round solid piece of wood, into which are fastened several long pieces of steel, ground very sharp. This is placed in a large trough with the rags, and a sufficient quantity of water. At the bottom of the trough is a plate with steel bars, ground sharp like the former; and the engine being carried round with prodigious velocity, reduces the rags to a pulp in a very short time. It must be observed, that the motion of the engine causes the water in the trough to circulate, and by that means constantly returns the stuff to the engine. The trough is constantly fed with clean water at one end, while the dirty water from the rags is carried off at the other, through a hole, defended with wire gratings, in order to hinder the pulp from going out with the dirty water.

When the stuff is sufficiently prepared as above, it is carried to the vat, and mixed with a proper quantity of water, which they call priming the vat. The vat is rightly primed, when the liquor has such a proportion of the pulp, as that the mould, on being dipped into it, will just take up enough to make a sheet of paper of the thickness required. The mould is a kind of sieve exactly of the size of the paper to be made, and about an inch deep, the bottom being formed of fine brae wire, guarded underneath with sticks, to prevent it bagging down, and to keep it horizontal; and further, to strengthen the bottom, there are large wires placed in parallel lines, at equal distances, which form those lines visible in all white paper when held up to the light: the mark of the paper is also made in this bottom, by interweaving a large wire in any particular form. This mould the maker dips into the liquor, and gives it a shake as he takes it out, to clear the water from the pulp. He then slides it along a groove to the coucher, who turns out the sheet upon a felt laid on a plank, and lays another felt on it; and returns the mould to the maker, who by this time has prepared a second sheet in another mould; and thus they proceed, laying alternately a sheet and a felt, till they have made six quires of paper, which is called a poft; and this they do with such swiftness, that, in many sorts of paper, two men make 20 pofts and more in a day. A poft of paper being made, either the maker or coucher whistles; on which four or five men advance, one of whom draws it under the press, and the rest press it with great force, till all the water is squeezed from it; after which it is separated sheet by sheet from the felts, and laid regularly one sheet upon another; and having undergone a second pressing, it is hung up to dry. When sufficiently dried, it is taken off the lines, rubbed smooth with the hands, and laid by till sized; which is the next operation. For this they choose a fine temperate day; and having boiled a proper quantity of clean parchment, or vellum-shavings, in water, till it comes to a size, they prepare a fine cloth, on which they strew a due proportion of white vitriol and roch alum finely powdered, and strain the size through it into a large tub; in which they dip as much paper, at once as they can conveniently hold, and with a quick motion give every sheet its share of the size, which must be as hot as the hand can well bear it. After this, the paper is pressed, hung up sheet by sheet to dry; and being taken down is sorted, and what is only fit for outside-quires laid by themselves: it is then told into quires, which are folded and pressed. The broken sheets are commonly put together, and two of the worst quires are placed on the outside of every ream or bundle: and being tied up in wrappers, made of the feltting of the vat, it is fit for sale.

Paper is of various kinds, and used for various purposes: with regard to colour, it is principally distinguished into white, blue, and brown; and with regard to its dimensions, into atlas, elephant, imperial, super-royal, royal, medium, demi, crown, fools-cape, and pot-paper.

Mr Guettard of the Royal Academy of Sciences in France has given an account of a number of experiments on materials for making paper; with a view, if possible, to procure this useful substance from such others as are always to be had in greater plenty than rags can be got; of which there is sometimes a considerable scarcity. Mr Reaumur has observed, that walps have a method of preparing bits of rotten wood whereby they build their nests, in such a manner, that it looks like strong paper or pateboard. Seba, in the first volume of his Natural History, professes the alga marina. "This country (says he) does not seem to want trees fit for making paper, if people would give themselves the necessary trouble and expense. Alga marina, for example, which is composed of long, strong, viscous filaments, might it not be proper for this purpose, as well as the mats of Muscovy, if they were prepared as the Japanese make their paper? The curious may at least try the experiment." P. du Halde, in the first volume of his History of China, pretends, that the Chinese make paper of the second bark of bamboo, of the bark of different trees, particularly the mulberry, of straw, rue, and hemp. Other authors mention its having been made of mallows, and several different kinds of herbs. All Mr Guettard's trials, however, proved unsuccessful, and flax, cotton, hemp, and silk, seem to be the only materials of which it is possible to make this valuable commodity. The reason of these failures was, that the abovementioned substances only seem capable of being reduced to fibres indefinitely fine, and which at the same time preserve a considerable degree of toughness; all others being very coarse in the fibre itself, and soon reducible to their ultimate fineness; and what is worse, the fibres are brittle, so that the paper when made has no cohesion. Our author, however, has found, that paper may be made from flax, hemp, and silk, without the trouble of manufacturing them into cloth; and therefore he recommends the dressings of the two former, which are sometimes in such abundance as to be thrown away; but if we consider the great trouble which must be necessary to bring those materials to a proper colour, and the great diminution of them which must necessarily ensue during the tedious operation, it is not probable that any advantage could be gained in this way. Preparation of Paper for durable writing. For this purpose Dr Lewis recommends the impregnation of it with astringent materials. "It is observable (says he) that writings first begin to fade or change their colour on the back of the paper, where the larger strokes have sunk in, or are visible through it; as if part of the iron matter of the vitriol was in a more subtile or dissolved state than the rest, and sunk further, on account of its not being fully disengaged from the acid, or sufficiently combined with the astringent matter of the galls. Hence, it should seem probable, that if the paper was impregnated with astringent matter, the colour of the ink would be more durable. To see how far this notion was well founded, I dipt some paper in an infusion of galls; and, when dry, repeated the dipping a second and third time. On the paper thus prepared, and some that was unprepared, I wrote with different inks; several of which, that the effects might be more sensible, had an over-proportion of vitriol. The writings being exposed to the weather till the best of the inks on the unprepared paper had faded and changed their colour, those on the prepared paper were all found to retain their blackness. It is therefore recommended to the consideration of the paper-makers, whether a particular kind of paper might not be prepared for those uses where the long duration of the writing is of principal importance, by impregnating it with galls or other astringents, in some of the operations it passes through before it receives the glazing; as for instance, by using an astringent infusion, instead of common water, in the last operation, when the matter is reduced into a pulp for being formed into sheets. The brownish hue which the paper receives from the galling, would not perhaps be any great obstacle to its use; and, if the proposal should be thought worthy of being carried into execution, further inquiries may possibly discover the means of obviating the imperfection, and communicating astringency without colour.

Staining or Colouring of Paper. The colours proper for paper are not different from those used for other substances, and are enumerated under the article Colour-Making. They are applied with soft brushes, after being tempered to a due degree with size or gum water. If the paper on which they are to be laid is soft, so that the colours are apt to go through it, it must also be sized before they are laid on, or a proportionally larger quantity must be used along with the colours themselves. If a considerable extent of the paper is to be done over with one colour, it must receive several coatings, as thin as possible, letting each coat dry before another is put on, otherwise the colour will be unequal.

To gild Paper. Take yellow ocher, grind it with rain-water, and lay a ground with it upon the paper all over; when dry, take the white of eggs, beat it clear with white sugar-candy, and strike it all over; then lay on the leaf-gold; and, when dry, polish it with a tooth. Some take saffron, boil it in water, and dissolve a little gum with it; then they strike it over the paper, lay on the gold; and, when dry, they polish it.

To silver Paper, after the Chinese manner, without silver. Take two scruples of clear glue made of neats leather, one scruple of white alum, and half a pint of clear water; simmer the whole over a slow fire, till the water is consumed, or the steam ceases: Then, your sheets of paper being laid on a smooth table, you dip a pretty large pencil into that glue, and daub it over as even as you can, repeating this two or three times: then sift the powder of talc through a fine sieve, made of horse-hair or gauze, over it; and then hang it up to dry; and, when dry, rub off the superfluous talc, which serves again for the same purpose. The talc you prepare in the following manner: Take fine white transparent Muscovy talc; boil it in clear water for four hours; then take it off the fire, and let it stand fo for two days: then take it out, wash it well, and put it into a linen-rag, and beat it to pieces with a mallet: to 10 pounds of talc add 3 pounds of white alum, and grind them together in a little hand-mill; sift it through a gauze-sieve; and being thus reduced to a powder, put it into water, and just boil it up; then let it sink to the bottom, pour off the water from it, place the powder in the sun to dry, and it will become a hard consistence. This beat in a mortar to an impalpable powder, and keep it, for the use above-mentioned, free from dust.

Paper-Hangings, furniture now greatly used, and generally approved, as it is at once airy and cheap.

The paper manufactured for hangings is of several kinds, some being made in representation of stucco work, for the covering ceilings or the sides of halls, stair-cases, passages, &c. and others in imitation of velvet, damask, brocades, chints, or other such silks and stuffs as are employed for hanging rooms. The principal difference in the manufacture lies, however, in the grounds: some of which are laid in varnish, and others in the common vehicles for water-colours; and in the raising a kind of coloured embossment by chopt-cloth, which is called flock-paper.

Unwrought Paper proper for Hangings.—The kind of paper employed for making the paper-hangings is a sort of coarse cartoon manufactured for this purpose; and there being a particular duty on paper-hangings, it is required, under considerable penalties, to be stamped before it be painted or otherwise decorated for this purpose. There is no occasion, however, to be more particular in explaining the qualities of this kind of unwrought paper; because it is to be had of all the great dealers in paper, manufactured in a proper manner.

White and coloured Grounds for Paper-Hangings.—The common grounds laid in water are made by mixing whiting with the common glovers size, and laying it on the paper with a proper brush in the most even manner. This is all that is required, where the ground is to be left white; and the paper being then hung on a proper frame, till it be dry, is fit to be painted. When coloured grounds are required, the same method must be pursued, and the ground of whiting first laid; except in pale colours, such as straw-colours or pink, where a second coating may sometimes be spared, by mixing some strong colour with the whiting.

Manner of painting the Paper-Hangings.—There are three methods by which paper-hangings are painted; the first by printing on the colours; the second by using the stencils; and the third by laying them on with a pencil, as in other kinds of painting. When the colours are laid on by printing, the impression is made by wooden prints; which are cut in such manner, that the figure to be expressed is made to project from the surface by cutting away all the other part; and this, being charged with the colours tempered with their proper vehicle, by letting it gently down on a block on which the colour is previously spread, conveys it from thence to the ground of the paper, on which it is made to fall more forcibly by means of its weight, and the effort of the arm of the person who uses the print. It is easy to conclude, that there must be as many separate prints as there are colours to be printed. But where there are more than one, great care must be taken, after the first, to let the print fall exactly in the same part of the paper as that which went before; otherwise the figure of the design would be brought into irregularity and confusion.

In common paper of low price, it is usual, therefore, to print only the outlines, and lay on the rest of the colours by stencilling; which both saves the expense of cutting more prints, and can be practised by common workmen, not requiring the great care and dexterity necessary to the using several prints.

The manner of stencilling the colours is this. The figure, which all the parts of any particular colour make in the design to be painted, is to be cut out, in a piece of thin leather or oil-cloth, which pieces of leather or oil-cloth, are called stencils; and being laid flat on the sheets of paper to be printed, spread on a table or floor, are to be rubbed over with the colour, properly tempered, by means of a large brush. The colour passing over the whole is consequently spread on those parts of the paper where the cloth or leather is cut away, and give the same effect as if laid on by a print. This is nevertheless only practicable in parts where there are only detached masses or spots of colours: for where there are small continued lines, or parts that run one into another, it is difficult to preserve the connection or continuity of the parts of the cloth, or to keep the smaller corners close down to the paper; and therefore, in such cases, prints are preferable. Stencilling is indeed a cheaper method of ridding coarse work than printing; but, without such extraordinary attention and trouble as render it equally difficult with printing, it is far less beautiful and exact in the effect. For the outline of the spots of colour want that sharpness and regularity that are given by prints, besides the frequent extralineations, or deviations from the just figure, which happens by the original misplacing of the stencils, or the shifting the place of them during the operation.

Pencilling is only used in the case of nicer work, such as the better imitations of the India paper. It is performed in the same manner as other paintings in water or varnish. It is sometimes used only to fill the outlines already formed by printing, where the price of the colour, or the exactness of the manner in which it is required to be laid on, render the stencilling or printing it less proper; at other times, it is used for forming or delineating some parts of the design, where a spirit of freedom and variety, not to be had in printed outlines, are desired to be had in the work.

Management of the Flock Paper.—The paper designed for receiving the flock is first prepared with a varnish-ground with some proper colour, or by that of the paper itself. It is frequently practised to print some mosaic, or other small running figure in colours, on the ground, before the flock be laid on; and it may be done with any pigment of the colour desired, tempered with varnish, and laid on by a print cut correspondently to that end.

The method of laying on the flock is this. A wooden print being cut, as is above described, for laying on the colour in such manner, that the part of the design which is intended for the flock may project beyond the rest of the surface, the varnish is put on a block covered with leather or oil-cloth, and the print is to be used also in the same manner, to lay the varnish on all the parts where the flock is to be fixed. The sheet, thus prepared by the varnished impression, is then to be removed to another block or table; and to be strewned over with flock; which is afterwards to be gently compressed by a board, or some other flat body, to make the varnish take the better hold of it; and then the sheet is to be hung on a frame till the varnish be perfectly dry; at which time the superfluous part of flock is to be brushed off by a soft camel's-hair brush; and the proper flock will be found to adhere in a very strong manner.

The method of preparing the flock is, by cutting woollen-rags, or pieces of cloth with the hand, by means of a large bill or chopping knife; or by means of a machine worked by a horse-mill.

There is a kind of counterfeit flock-paper, which, when well managed, has very much the same effect to the eye as the real, though done with less expense. The manner of making this fort is, by laying a ground of varnish on the paper; and having afterwards printed the design of the flock in varnish, in the same manner as for the true; instead of the flock, some pigment, or dry colour, of the same hue with the flock required by the design, but somewhat of a darker shade, being well powdered, is strewned on the printed varnish; and produces nearly the same appearance.

Paper Money, is a term frequently made use of for bank-bills, which pass currently in trade instead of gold and silver.

Concerning this species of currency, the national utility of which has been controverted by some, we have the following observations in Dr Smith's Treatise on the Wealth of Nations: "The substitution of paper in the room of gold and silver money replaces a very expensive instrument of commerce with one much less costly, and sometimes equally convenient. Circulation comes to be carried on by a new wheel, which it costs less both to erect and maintain than the old one.

"When the people of any particular country have such confidence in the fortune, probity, and prudence of a particular banker, as to believe that he is always ready to pay upon demand such of his promissory notes as are likely at any time to be presented to him, those notes come to have the same currency as gold and silver money, from the confidence that such money can at any time be had for them.

"A particular banker lends among his customers his own promissory notes, to the amount, we shall suppose, of 100,000 l. As those notes serve all the purposes of money, his debtors pay him the same interest as if he had lent them so much money. This interest is the source of his gain. Though some of those notes..." are continually coming back upon him for payment, part of them continue to circulate for months and years together. Though he has generally in circulation, therefore, notes to the amount of 100,000l. 20,000l. in gold and silver may frequently be a sufficient provision for answering occasional demands. By this operation, therefore, 20,000l. in gold and silver perform all the functions which 100,000l. could otherwise have performed. Eighty thousand pounds of gold and silver can therefore, in this manner, be spared from the circulation of the country; and if different operations of the same kind should, at the same time, be carried on by many different banks and bankers, the whole circulation may be thus conducted with a fifth part only of the gold and silver.

Let us suppose, for example, that the whole circulating money of some particular country amounted, at a particular time, to 1,000,000 sterling, that sum being then sufficient for circulating the whole annual produce of their land and labour. Let us suppose too, that, some time thereafter, different banks and bankers issued promissory notes, payable to the bearer, to the extent of 1,000,000, reserving in their different coffers 200,000l. for answering occasional demands. There would remain, therefore, in circulation 800,000l. in gold and silver, and 1,000,000 of bank-notes, or 1,800,000l. of paper and money together. But the annual produce of the land and labour of the country had before required only 1,000,000 to circulate and distribute it to its proper consumers, and that annual produce cannot be immediately augmented by those operations of banking. One million, therefore, will be sufficient to circulate it after them. The goods to be bought and sold being precisely the same as before, the same quantity of money will be sufficient for buying and selling them. The channel of circulation, if I may be allowed such an expression, will remain precisely the same as before. One million we have supposed sufficient to fill that channel. Whatever, therefore, is poured into it beyond this sum, cannot run in it, but must overflow. One million eight hundred thousand pounds are poured into it. Eight hundred thousand pounds, therefore, must overflow, that sum being over and above what can be employed in the circulation of the country. But though this sum cannot be employed at home, it is too valuable to be allowed to lie idle. It will therefore be sent abroad, in order to seek that profitable employment which it cannot find at home. But the paper cannot go abroad; because, at a distance from the banks which issue it, and from the country in which payment of it can be exacted by law, it will not be received in common payments. Gold and silver, therefore, to the amount of 800,000l. will be sent abroad, and the channel of home circulation will remain filled with 1,000,000 of paper, instead of 1,000,000 of those metals which filled it before.

But though so great a quantity of gold and silver is thus sent abroad, we must not imagine that it is sent abroad for nothing; or that its proprietors make a present of it to foreign nations. They will exchange it for foreign goods of some kind or another, in order to supply the consumption either of some other foreign country or of their own.

If they employ it in purchasing goods in one foreign country in order to supply the consumption of another, or in what is called the carrying trade, whatever profit they make will be an addition to the neat revenue of their own country. It is like a new fund, created for carrying on a new trade; domestic business being now transferred by paper, and the gold and silver being converted into a fund for this new trade.

If they employ it in purchasing foreign goods for home-consumption, they may either first purchase such goods as are likely to be consumed by idle people who produce nothing, such as foreign wines, foreign silks, &c.; or, secondly, they may purchase an additional stock of materials, tools, and provisions, in order to employ an additional number of industrious people, who reproduce, with a profit, the value of their annual consumption.

So far as it is employed in the first way, it promotes prodigality, increases expense and consumption, without increasing production, or establishing any permanent fund for supporting that expense, and is in every respect hurtful to the society.

So far as it is employed in the second way, it promotes industry; and though it increases the consumption of the society, it provides a permanent fund for supporting that consumption, the people who consume, reproducing, with a profit, the whole value of their annual consumption. The gross revenue of the society, the annual produce of their land and labour, is increased by the whole value which the labour of those workmen adds to the materials upon which they are employed; and their neat revenue by what remains of this value, after deducting what is necessary for supporting the tools and instruments of their trade.

That the greater part of the gold and silver which, being forced abroad by those operations of banking, is employed in purchasing foreign goods for home-consumption, is and must be employed for purchasing those of this second kind, seems not only probable, but almost unavoidable. Though some particular men may sometimes increase their expense very considerably, though their revenue does not increase at all, we may be assured that no class or order of men ever does so; because, though the principles of common prudence do not always govern the conduct of every individual, they always influence that of the majority of every class or order. But the revenue of idle people, considered as a class or order, cannot in the smallest degree be increased by those operations of banking. Their expense in general, therefore, cannot be much increased by them, tho' that of a few individuals among them may, and in reality sometimes is. The demand of idle people, therefore, for foreign goods, being the same, or very nearly the same, as before, a very small part of the money, which being forced abroad by those operations of banking, is employed in purchasing foreign goods for home-consumption, is likely to be employed in purchasing those for their use. The greater part of it will naturally be destined for the employment of industry, and not for the maintenance of idleness.

When we compute the quantity of industry which the circulating capital of any society can employ, we must always have regard to those parts of it only which consist in provisions, materials, and finished work: the other, which consists in money, and which serves only to circulate those three, must always be deducted. In order to put industry into motion, three things are requisite; materials to work upon, tools to work with, and the wages or recompense for the sake of which the work is done. Money is neither a material to work upon, nor a tool to work with; and though the wages of the workman are commonly paid to him in money, his real revenue, like that of all other men, consists, not in the money, but in the money's worth; not in the metal pieces, but in what can be got for them.

"The quantity of industry which any capital can employ, must evidently be equal to the number of workmen whom it can supply with materials, tools, and a maintenance suitable to the nature of the work. Money may be requisite for purchasing the materials and tools of the work, as well as the maintenance of the workmen. But the quantity of industry which the whole capital can employ, is certainly not equal both to the money which purchases, and to the materials, tools, and maintenance, which are purchased with it; but only to one or other of those two values, and to the latter more properly than to the former.

"When paper is substituted in the room of gold and silver money, the quantity of the materials, tools, and maintenance, which the whole circulating capital can supply, may be increased by the whole value of gold and silver which used to be employed in purchasing them. The whole value of the great wheel of circulation and distribution is added to the goods which are circulated and distributed by means of it. The operation, in some measure, resembles that of the undertaker of some great work, who, in consequence of some improvement in mechanics, takes down his old machinery, and adds the difference between its price and that of the new to his circulating capital, to the fund from which he furnishes materials and wages to his workmen.

"What the proportion is which the circulating money of any country bears to the whole value of the annual produce circulated by means of it, it is perhaps impossible to determine. It has been computed by different authors at a fifth, at a tenth, at a twentieth, and at a thirtieth part of that value. But how small forever the proportion which the circulating money may bear to the whole value of the annual produce, as but a part, and frequently but a small part, of that produce, is ever destined for the maintenance of industry, it must always bear a very considerable proportion to that part. When, therefore, by the substitution of paper, the gold and silver necessary for circulation is reduced to perhaps a fifth part of the former quantity, if the value of only the greater part of the other four-fifths be added to the funds which are destined for the maintenance of industry, it must make a very considerable addition to the quantity of that industry, and consequently to the value of the annual produce of land and labour.

"An operation of this kind has, within these 25 or 30 years, been performed in Scotland, by the erection of new banking companies in almost every considerable town, and even in some country villages. The effects of it have been precisely those above described. The business of the country is almost entirely carried on by means of the paper of those different banking compa-

nies, with which purchases and payments of all kinds are commonly made. Silver very seldom appears, except in the change of a twenty shillings bank-note, and gold still seldomer. But though the conduct of all those different companies has not been unexceptionable, and has accordingly required an act of parliament to regulate it; the country, notwithstanding, has evidently derived great benefit from their trade. I have heard it asserted, that the trade of the city of Glasgow doubled in about 15 years after the first erection of the banks there; and that the trade of Scotland has more than quadrupled since the first erection of the two public banks at Edinburgh; of which the one, called The Bank of Scotland, was established by act of parliament in 1695, the other, called The Royal Bank, by royal charter in 1727. Whether the trade, either of Scotland in general, or of the city of Glasgow in particular, has really increased in so great a proportion during so short a period, I do not pretend to know. If either of them has increased in this proportion, it seems to be an effect too great to be accounted for by the sole operation of this cause. That the trade and industry of Scotland, however, have increased very considerably during this period, and that the banks have contributed a good deal to this increase, cannot be doubted.

"The value of the silver money which circulated in Scotland before the Union, in 1707, and which immediately after it was brought into the bank of Scotland in order to be re-coined, amounted to £411,117. 10s. 9d. sterling. No account has been got of the gold coin; but it appears from the ancient accounts of the mint of Scotland, that the value of the gold annually coined somewhat exceeded that of the silver. There were a good many people too upon this occasion, who, from a diffidence of repayment, did not bring their silver into the bank of Scotland; and there was, besides, some English coin which was not called in. The whole value of the gold and silver, therefore, which circulated in Scotland before the Union, cannot be estimated at less than £1,000,000 sterling. It seems to have constituted almost the whole circulation of that country; for though the circulation of the bank of Scotland, which had then no rival, was considerable, it seems to have made but a very small part of the whole. In the present times, the whole circulation of Scotland cannot be estimated at less than £2,000,000, of which that part which consists in gold and silver most probably does not amount to £500,000. But though the circulating gold and silver of Scotland have suffered to great a diminution during this period, its real riches and prosperity do not appear to have suffered any. Its agriculture, manufactures, and trade, on the contrary, the annual produce of its land and labour, have evidently been augmented."

Paper Office, an office in the palace of Whitehall, in which all the public writings, matters of state and council, proclamations, letters, intelligences, negotiations abroad, and generally all dispatches that pass through the offices of the secretaries of state, are lodged, by way of library.

Papier-mâché. This is a substance made of cuttings of white or brown paper, boiled in water, and beaten in a mortar, till they are reduced into a kind of paste, and then boiled with a solution of gum Arabic. arabic or of size, to give tenacity to the paste, which is afterwards formed into different toys, &c. by pressing it into oiled moulds. When dry, it is done over with a mixture of size and lamp-black, and afterwards varnished. The black varnish for these toys, according to Dr Lewis, is prepared as follows: Some colophony, or turpentine boiled down till it becomes black and friable, is melted in a glazed earthen vessel, and thrice as much amber in fine powder sprinkled in by degrees, with the addition of a little spirit or oil of turpentine now and then: when the amber is melted, sprinkle in the same quantity of sarcocolla, continuing to stir them, and to add more spirit of turpentine, till the whole becomes fluid; then strain out the clear through a coarse hair-bag, pressing it gently between hot boards. This varnish, mixed with ivory-black in fine powder, is applied, in a hot room, on the dried paper-paste; which is then set in a gently heated oven, next day in a hotter oven, and the third day in a very hot one, and let stand each time till the oven grows cold. The paste thus varnished is hard, durable, glossy, and bears liquors hot or cold.