The paper-making machine is supplied from the “chest” or reservoir (F), into which the pulp descends from the beating engine, when sufficiently ground; being kept in constant motion, as it descends, by means of the agitator (G), in order that it shall not settle. From this reservoir the pulp is again conveyed by a pipe into what is technically termed the “lifter” (H), which consists of a cast-iron wheel, enclosed in a wooden case, and having a number of buckets affixed to its circumference. The trough (I), placed immediately beneath the endless wire (K) is for the purpose of receiving the water which drains away from the pulp during the process of manufacture, and as this water is frequently impregnated with certain chemicals used in connexion with paper-making, it is returned again by a conducting spout, into the “lifter,” where, by the rotation of the buckets, both the pulp and back-water become again thoroughly mixed, and are together raised by the lifter through the spout (L) into the vat (M) where the pulp is strained by means of a sieve or “knotter,” as it is called, which is usually formed of brass, having fine slits cut in it to allow the comminuted pulp to pass through, while it retains all lumps and knots; and so fine are these openings, in order to free the pulp entirely from anything which would be liable to damage the quality of the paper, that it becomes necessary to apply a means of exhaustion underneath, in order to facilitate the passage of the pulp through the strainer. I have frequently examined a mass of these lumps collected upon the top of the knotter, more particularly when printing papers are being manufactured, and have generally found them composed, to a very great extent, of India Rubber, which is a source of much greater annoyance to the paper maker than is readily conceived. For, in the first place, it is next to impossible in sorting and cutting the rags to free them entirely from the braiding, and so forth, with which ladies will insist upon adorning their dresses, and in the next, the bleach failing to act upon a substance of that character, the quality of the paper becomes greatly deteriorated, by the large black specks which it occasions, and which, by the combined heat and pressure of the rolls and cylinders, enlarge considerably as it proceeds.