In early times, wealthy people were accustomed to have the walls of their rooms covered with _tapestry_, which was a combination of woven cloth and needlework, somewhat mid-way between the _sampler_ work and the _carpet_ work of our own day. These specimens of tapestry frequently represented some historical events, and were often worked by the hands of the lady of the mansion and her maids; but at other times were the work of men following that line of occupation. The walls of those rooms which were not thus covered, were usually of panelled wainscot, or oak. But when tapestry went out of fashion, and a more lively covering for a wall than oak was wished for, a custom arose of printing or stamping certain coloured devices on sheets of paper, and of pasting those sheets against the wall. We believe that it is in England more than in any other country that this covering for walls is employed; and since the removal of the duty which was formerly laid on paper-hangings, they have become so very cheap as to be almost universally employed in houses of every class; indeed, it may be regarded as a circumstance not a little conducive to the comfort and neatness of humble dwellings, that a yard of printed wall-paper can now be purchased for _one halfpenny_. From this trifling price up to five or even ten shillings per yard, paper-hangings are now manufactured; so great are the improvements gradually made in the modes of manufacture. The Manufacture of Paper-hangings. It will be interesting to give a brief description of the mode of making, or rather printing, paper-hangings, before we speak of the employment of the paper-hanger; for all that devolves upon him is to fix up the paper when printed. The paper employed is a sort of cartoon or cartridge paper manufactured for the purpose,--rough, but strong. Until recently, every piece of such paper was stamped, and the excise duty paid on it, before the process of printing commenced. In general, the paper is printed in “distemper,” that is, in colours mixed with melted size, but sometimes in varnish. The pigments or colouring substances employed, are principally these:--_Red_ or _crimson_,--lake, vermilion, rose-pink, and red ochre:--_Blue_,--Prussian blue, verditer, and indigo:--_Yellow_,--Dutch pink, yellow ochre, and chrome yellow:--_Green_,--verdigris, and various mixtures of the blues and yellows just mentioned:--_Orange_,--vermilion, or red lake, mixed with Dutch pink:--_Purple_,--a wash made of logwood, and various mixtures of lake with Prussian blue, or with indigo:--_Black_,--ivory black and lamp black:--_White_,--whiting and white lead. There are other substances occasionally used, according as improvements or discoveries are made in the manufacture of colours; but various combinations of those which we have mentioned will yield almost every tint that can be desired.