English prose literature; Exposition (Rhetoric); Readers -- Science
Important as the bluing or coloring is, however, it is only one of the
numerous operations or manipulations that take place in the beater. Many
of these, such as engine-sizing and body-coloring, require skill and
constant watchfulness. Here, too, if anywhere, adulteration takes place.
It is sometimes necessary to secure a fine-appearing paper at small
cost, and it is profitable to add to its weight. In such cases a process
of "loading" takes place here, and clay or cheap, heavy fibers are
added. Clay is of value not only to increase the weight but also to
render the paper more opaque, so as to prevent type or illustrations
from showing through, while at the same time it makes possible a
smoother surface by filling the pores in the paper. But while it adds to
the weight, clay must, of necessity, weaken the paper. In engine-sizing,
which is done in the beater, the size is thoroughly incorporated with
the fibers as these revolve or flow around the engine. This sizing
renders the paper more nearly impervious to moisture. The difference
between a paper that is sized and that has a repellent surface which
prevents the ink from settling into it when it is written upon, and an
ordinary blotting-paper with its absorbent surface, is due entirely to
the fact that the former is most carefully treated with sizing both in
the beating engine and in the size tub or vat referred to later, whereas
in the latter paper it is omitted. If the paper is to be tinted or
body-colored, colors made from aniline are generally used. Only in the
highest grade of writing-paper and in some few papers that demand colors
fast to the light is any other order of coloring matter employed. As may
be easily imagined, considerable skill is required to secure exactly the
desired tint, and to get the coloring matter so evenly mixed that each
small fiber shall receive its proper tint, and thus to insure that the
paper when finished shall be of uniform color and not present a mottled
appearance.
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