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Show MACERATIO O MATERIA 16 ideal materials from which to fabricate paper. Linen of the whites kind was desired, but cotton was not rejected. When materials o different weights and substances were used, they were, in the bes mills, pounded or stamped separately and mixed after beating, fo without this precaution much of the fibre would have been lost the finer particles escaping with the water during the lengthy proc In the mills of less importance where the rags were fewer, the were left to rot for longer periods, as the heaps, being smaller, di not heat so rapidly. The length of time for this process also depended upon the quality of the rags; the finest linen did not rot s quickly as the coarse, and the linen that had been worn as clothin rotted with more difficulty than new material, because the interna humidity that disposed the fibres to fermentation was more considerable in new or coarse than in worn or fine linen. When fung grew on the heaps or piles of rags it was considered that the process was well under way. In some mills lime was thrown upon th rags to assist i the disintegration, but this was detrimental to th material, and paper made from material so treated was never s strong or lasting as that which had fermented naturally. In th eighteenth century the use of lime was absolutely prohibited i ance. Affer the fermentation process the rags were cut an placed in stone or heavy wooden troughs \vhcm (hcy were washe by hand, for during the rotting the rags took on a yellow c \vhxch had to be climinated. This was n:mmpll:hcd only wit Feulty; in fact, most of the paper from the carly mill ,cuowm., i pleasing, tint, the direet result of the fcrmcmm process After the cloth had been reduced to a broken and tender state b the rotting, and had been cleansed by washing, it was ready to b triturated into pulp for forming the actual sheets of paper. Th stamping-mills that were originated in Spain consisted of rows o ess of red tougher and coarser fabrics ital Imag © 2004 University of Utah. All rights reserved |