Where does paper come from?
A sheet of paper consists of vegetable fibres of
different sizes, twisted and interwined with each other and finally squeezed
together to make a sheet with a surface smooth enough to write or print on.
Originally it was discovered tat if a mixture of
wood pulp and water was spread on a sieve, the water would drain away and leave
a deposit which, when dry, could be peeled off as a sheet of paper.
Although the Chinese had been using paper sing A.D.
105 it was not introduced into Europe until the 15th Century. The
raw materials used for modern hand-made paper are cotton and linen rags. Such
paper is very expensive to produce.
Machine-made paper is processed in paper mills from
esparto grass, wood and straw, and is much cheaper. The materials for both
types of paper-making have to be put though the same basic procedure of
repeated washing and bleaching to get rid of impurities.
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