Series XI.--This paper is also of a peculiar texture; the surface presents a sort of hairy appearance, and the quality is better than Series X, although not as tough as series XII. Series XII and XIII.--This paper presents, even when looking at the face of the specimens, so entirely different an appearance to that employed in any of the other series, that a reference to the back is hardly necessary. It is found in two thicknesses, which have the same appearance, and seems to have been employed for all the values except the 12d. Series XIV.--We are surprised that this variety has hitherto escaped notice. It is so distinct, both in paper and color, from any of the other 6d stamps. It has only been found in shades of a peculiarly _brownish purple_ which is a color entirely different from that presented by specimens on any other of the papers employed. It is an exceedingly rare variety. It would indeed be a task for the most intrepid of specialists to try and complete his Canadian stamps on such ambitious lines, to say nothing of acquiring the ingenuity necessary to differentiate between them. Their philatelic importance is, in our humble opinion, not a matter of very great consequence. At that period, hand-made paper was still being used to a very large extent and even machine-made paper was not manufactured with the nicety of standardisation that is possible with the improved machinery of today. Consequently, the sheets of paper, even in such a small commercial quantity as a ream, would generally show considerable variation in texture. Thin and thick sheets were frequently mixed to obtain the necessary weight per ream specified in any particular grade of paper. No particular quality of paper was, apparently, specified for the manufacture of these stamps, and so long as it looked much about the same it is very obvious the printers made no particular effort to maintain an exact standard. It is even questionable that the wove and laid varieties mark distinct consignments or printings of the stamps. Indeed, so far as the 12d is concerned at any rate, both varieties must have been included in the same consignment. But, more serious still, from the point of view of those collectors who consider the wove and laid papers should be treated as major varieties, Mr. King admits that "the lines in the laid paper are of a most peculiar character" and that "it is often difficult to distinguish between the laid and the wove papers", while Mr. Howes states, "It happens sometimes that it is quite difficult to distinguish the laid paper, a very careful scrutiny or even the extreme resort to the benzine cup being necessary to bring out the watermarked lines, and perhaps then only in a half suspicious way." Writing in the _Canada Stamp Sheet_ (Vol. IV, page 142), concerning the 12d value, Mr. John N. Luff stated, "It is my