The wire-cloth is generally supported by a much coarser wire-cloth, or by pieces of thick wire, and these again by wedge-shaped pieces of wood, the thin end being next to the wire. To form a sheet of paper the workman dips the mould, with the “deckle” in position, into a vat containing the prepared pulp diluted with water, lifting up just so much as will make a sheet of the necessary thickness. As soon as the mould is removed from the vat, the water begins to drain through the wire-cloth, and to leave the fibres on the surface in the form of a coherent sheet of paper. The felting or intertwining is assisted by lateral motion in every direction given to the frame by the workman. The movable deckle is then removed, and the mould, with the sheet of paper, given to another workman, called the “coucher,” who turns it over and presses it against the felt, by this means transferring the sheet from the wire to the felt. In the meantime the “vat-man” is engaged in the formation of another sheet with a second mould. [Illustration: THE FOURDRINIER PAPER MACHINE. PLATE I.] A number of the sheets thus formed are piled together, alternately with pieces of felt, and when a sufficient number {145} have been obtained, the whole is subjected to strong pressure, to expel the water. The felts are then removed, and the sheets again pressed. They are then sized, if required, by dipping them into a solution of gelatine: again slightly pressed, and hung up on lines or poles to dry. Such paper is called loft-dried. When dry the sheets of paper are calendered. (See Chapter XI.) The making of paper by hand involves considerable dexterity on the part of the workman; on account of the expensive labour necessary, in comparison with paper-machines, it is comparatively little practised in the present day; certain kinds of paper, however, such as bank-notes, various drawing papers, and printing papers intended for the production of very elaborate editions are always made in this way. Any pattern or name required on the paper is obtained by means of a raised pattern on the wire-cloth mould: consequently, less pulp lodges there, and the paper is proportionally thinner, thus showing the exact counterpart of the pattern. Such devices are known as “water-marks.” (See also p. 156.) _The Paper Machine._—The paper machine of the present day, with all its ingenious improvements, differs but little in principle from that originally constructed by Fourdrinier. It consists essentially of an endless mould of wire-cloth, on to which the prepared pulp flows, and on which a continuous sheet of paper is formed. The sheet of paper then passes through a series of rollers and over a number of heated cylinders, where it is completely dried. A modern Fourdrinier paper machine is shown in plan and side elevation in Plates I. and II.