the so-called “book-worm,” of which traces are occasionally found in
old volumes; and I was expecting to find an invertebrate animal of the
class of annelids. In this library at the present time there are books
perforated with clean-cut holes opening into sinuous cavities, which
usually run up the back of the volumes, and sometimes perforate the
leather covers and the body of the book; but I have never detected the
live culprit that does the mischief. For the most part the injury is
confined to such as are bound in leather, and the ravages of the insect
appear to depend on its hunger. The external orifices look like so many
shot-holes, but the channels are anything but straight. From a long
examination of the subject I am inclined to think that all the damage
was done before the library came to this site in the spring of 1833.
At all events, there is no reason to suppose that any of the mischief
has been caused during the last fifty years. Perhaps the furnace-heat
dries up the moisture which is a requisite condition for the life and
propagation of the little animal.
Nearly two years ago I received a parcel of books from Florida, of
which some were infested with vermin, and more or less perforated in
the manner I have described. It occurred to me that they would make a
good breeding farm and experiment station for learning the habits of
the insect; and I accordingly sent several of the volumes to my friend
Mr. Samuel Garman, who is connected with the Museum of Comparative
Zoology at Cambridge, for his care and observation. From him I learn
that the principal offender is an animal known popularly as the Buffalo
Bug, though he is helped in his work by kindred spirits, not allied
to him according to the rules of natural history. Mr. Garman’s letter
gives the result of his labours so fully as to leave nothing to be
desired, and is as follows:--
“MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE, MASS., _February 7, 1893_.
“DR. SAMUEL A. GREEN, BOSTON, MASS.
“SIR,--The infested books sent for examination to this Museum, through
the kindness of Mr. George E. Littlefield, were received July 15,
1891. They were inspected, and, containing individuals of a couple of
species of living insects, were at once enclosed in glass for further
developments. A year afterward live specimens of both kinds were still
at work. Besides those that reached us alive, a third species had left
traces of former presence in a number of empty egg-cases.
“Five of the volumes were bound in cloth. On these the principal
damage appeared at the edges, which were eaten away and disfigured by
large burrows extending inward. Two volumes were bound in leather. The
edges of these were not so much disturbed; but numerous perforations,
somewhat like shot-holes externally, passed through the leather,
enlarging and ramifying in the interior. As if made by smaller insects,
the sides of these holes were neater and cleaner cuttings than those in
the burrows on the edges of the other volumes.
“The insects were all identified as well known enemies of libraries,
cabinets, and wardrobes. One of them is a species of what are
commonly designated ‘fish bugs,’ ‘silver fish,’ ‘bristle tails,’ &c.
By entomologists they are called _Lepisma_; the species in hand is
probably _Lepisma saccharina_. It is a small, elongate, silvery, very
active creature, frequently discovered under objects, or between the
leaves of books, whence it escapes by its extraordinary quickness of
movement. Paste and the sizing or enamel of some kinds of paper are
very attractive to it. In some cases it eats off the entire surface of
the sheet, including the ink, without making perforations; in others
the leaves are completely destroyed. The last specimen of this insect
in these books was killed February 5, 1893, which proves the species to
be sufficiently at home in this latitude.
“The second of the three is one of the ‘Buffalo Bugs.’ or ‘Carpet
Bugs,’ so called; not really bugs, but beetles. The species before
us is the _Anthrenus varius_ of scientists, very common in Boston
and Cambridge, as in other portions of the temperate regions and the
tropics. Very likely the ‘shot-holes’ in the leather-bound volumes are
of its making, though it may have been aided in the deeper and larger
chambers by one or both of the others. The damage done by this insect
in the house, museum, and library is too well known to call for further
comment. Living individuals were taken from the books nearly a year
after they were isolated.
“The third species had disappeared before the arrival of the books,
leaving only its burrows, excrement, and empty egg-cases, which,
however, leave no doubt of the identity of the animal with one of the
cockroaches, possibly the species _Blatta Australasiæ_. The cases agree
in size with those of _Blatta Americana_, but have thirteen impressions
on each side, as if the number of eggs were twenty-six. The ravages of
the cockroaches are greatest in the tropics, but some of the species
range through the temperate zones and even northward. An extract from
Westwood and Drury will serve to indicate the character of their work:--
“‘They devour all kinds of victuals, dressed and undressed, and damage
all sorts of clothing, leather, books, paper, &c., which, if they do
not destroy, at least they soil, as they frequently deposit a drop of
their excrement where they settle. They swarm by myriads in old houses,
making every part filthy beyond description. They have also the power
of making a noise like a sharp knocking with the knuckle upon the
wainscotting, _Blatta gigantea_ being thence known to the West Indies
by the name of drummer; and this they keep up, replying to each other,
throughout the night. Moreover, they attack sleeping persons, and will
even eat the extremities of the dead.’
“This quotation makes it appear that authors as well as books are
endangered by this outlaw. With energies exclusively turned against
properly selected examples of both, what a world of good it might do
mankind! The discrimination lacking, the insect must be treated as a
common enemy. As a bane for ‘silver fish’ and cockroaches, pyrethrum
insect powder is said to be effectual. For a number of years I have
used, on lepisma and roach, a mixture containing phosphorus, ‘The
Infallible Water Bug and Roach Exterminator,’ made by Barnard & Co.,
7 Temple Place, Boston, and, without other interest in advertising
the compound, have found it entirely satisfactory in its effects.
Bisulphide carbon, evaporated in closed boxes or cases containing the
infested articles, is used to do away with the ‘Buffalo Bugs.’--Very
respectfully yours,
“SAMUEL GARMAN.”
I can remember that many years ago there was to be seen in the bookshop
of John Penington, Philadelphia, a book-worm preserved in spirits in a
vial. The manner in which this species of teredo penetrates wood and
leather as well as paper is not the least curious of its habits.
The great amount of injury inflicted by boring-insects in books, wood,
and all weak substances is sufficient reason for giving so much space
to this subject. From a ship to a manuscript, nothing is safe from
them.
PAPIER-MÂCHÉ
REPAIRING TOYS--MAKING GROUNDS FOR PICTURES AND WALLS--CARTON-CUIR AND
CARTON-PIERRE
Soft paper, when mixed with water, gum, or, better still, with
flour-paste, forms a substance which can be moulded to any form,
and which, when dry, will be as hard as cardboard. Its hardness and
durability may be increased by mingling with it many substances.
Combined with soft leather in small fragments or with the dust of
leather, it forms what the French call _carton-cuir_. In this, or
even in its natural state--that is, paper and paste--_papier-mâché_,
as it is termed, can under pressure be made as hard as any wood. I
have seen all kinds of articles of furniture made from it. In America
there are manufactories in which pails or buckets, tubs, firkins, and
even durable boats, are thus manufactured. There is in Bergen, Norway,
a church built entirely of it mixed with lime. For certain kinds of
mending it is very valuable.
Though not so plastic as clay, _papier-mâché_ can, with a little
practice, be moulded into any form. It consists simply of pasting piece
on to piece, pressing it meantime as much as possible with the fingers
or a wooden implement like a pestle. The pressure should be applied as
it gradually dries. Any one can thus make very hard cardboard with a
bread-roller on a board.
If you have the cardboard cover of a book badly damaged, with even a
portion gone, it can be restored by using _papier-mâché_ in which a
solution of glue or gum has been infused. Glue it specially at the
edges. For such repairing take paper-dust or pulp, combined with
gum-arabic in alum-water solution, or simply the gum. This is easily
moulded and smoothed into any cracks or torn places.
If _parchment_ be torn away it is easily replaced. Cut a piece to
replace the missing portion, dampen it and the edge which it is to join
till quite soft, then glue the two together, using pressure. I have
just effected this myself with a cover of which half was gone, and the
mending is hardly visible. Use the broad knife freely to press down the
edges.
By combination with a mixture of nitric or sulphuric acid and water,
_soft_ paper becomes parchment-like and very hard. This requires
careful experimenting, for its success depends on the quality of the
acid and the texture of the paper. Very remarkable results have been
obtained from this, such as material resembling ivory, horn, and
tortoise-shell, in large blocks.
Waste-paper is so common and cheap that _papier-mâché_ can always be
made anywhere. It is well adapted to close cracks in wood, walls, or
elsewhere; and for those who wish for an employment or amusement, it
affords endless facilities. One of these is the mending or making of
toys.
A common mask is made as follows. On a face carved in wood and oiled
there is spread common coarse soft paper wetted, which is carefully
pressed down, and more paper and paste added, till it is of the
requisite thickness. It is then, when rather dry, taken off and left
to dry perfectly. It is then painted and varnished. Should a mask be
broken, wet it, paste glue-paper over it, and paint it again.
_Papier-mâché_ is popularly synonymous with that which is trashy and
sham in art, simply because its capacities and applications are not
known. Thus leather-work was long despised as only affording imitations
of carved wood. But in the hands of a true artist--that is, of an
_original designer_, who applies, and not a mere artisan, who imitates
or copies--_papier-mâché_ is as much a subject for art as any other
material. It can be used in many ways, more or less allied to mending,
as are all arts. Thus paper in fine powder, or reduced to a fine
paste--or pulp--can be, with a little practice, mixed with gum and
_painted_ with a brush on a surface so as to produce relief. A very
little elevation or depression thus serves to produce grounds which
may serve to give light or shadow to pictures. Thus pastel painting
or crayon in colours rubbed in, which has always been, even in the
most vigorous hands, a weak or “softly sweet” art, may be made very
vigorous by firmly relieving and roughening the ground; for, as the
great American painter, ALLSTON, often strengthened his colours by
mixing sand with them, so pastel painting which lacks “sand” can have
it supplied by mixing it with the gum for the ground.
To understand this process more clearly, let it be observed that, as
the illuminators of mediæval manuscripts gave relief and the appearance
of solidity to gold by making a raised surface with a powder of _gesso_
(plaster of Paris) and clay and gum, so this principle can be carried
out to a far greater extent by giving relief to a ground. Here those of
limited views, who never get beyond the merely artisan stage of art,
will at once decry this as shamming, and as imitating effect by the aid
of modelling, and not being true art, quite forgetting that all is true
to genius, and everything more or less sham in the mere imitation.
Having a surface, either panel or Bristol board, which latter had
better be pasted to a panel or good thick solid cardboard, begin by
taking a little gum or glue in tolerably fluid solution on the point
of a brush, and incorporating with it the paper pulp or cloth-dust to
a very soft paste, with which paint what is to be in relief. The same
effect is produced in oil by using a heavier, thicker kind of paint.
That is all the difference, one being as legitimate as the other. By
intermixing chalk or sand or clay, and by using glass-paper where the
crayon, &c., refuse to take easily, the relief adapts itself to every
substance. In this, as in every process known, the artist must at first
experiment a little, according to his materials.
Solid sheets of fine hard paper, with strong paste between, when passed
between rollers form a kind of _papier-mâché_ which, is as hard as
wood, fire-proof, and, what is most singular, more durable than iron.
Wheels for railway carriages are often made of it, and they never warp
under the action of heat or cold, neither do they crack nor bend. You
can make this cardboard for yourself of very good quality by this
process:--Take a sheet of writing-paper--the better the quality the
better the result will be--cover it with good flour-paste in which
there is a little alum and glue and a few drops of oil of cloves, which
latter will prevent paste from turning or souring. Then lay on this
another sheet, apply another coat of paste, and when it is a little dry
or past the softer stage, yet while still capable of adhesion, lay the
sheets on a hard, smooth slab or table, and pass a roller over them, at
first gently, but eventually frequently, and with force. Add as many
sheets as necessary for the thickness required. It will be understood
that if the surface on which this sheet is formed were an intaglio-cut
die or mould, the cardboard when taken up would present a bas-relief of
it as hard as any wood, and the whole would form a panel which could be
used for the side of a box or to be set in a cabinet. If made of good
paper and firmly rolled, this panel will be in every respect equal to
wood for all decorative purposes.
As anybody who can carve wood at all can cut moulds, and as a wooden
mould, if kept well oiled (or otherwise secured from yielding to
moisture), will serve for _papier-mâché_ and leather or wood-paste
casting, it is remarkable that such work is so very little practised
by the students of the minor arts. That such panels can be very easily
and rapidly made I know by experience; that the materials for the work
are cheap speaks for itself; and, finally, that beautiful panels for
cabinets and doors, whether made of carved wood, stamped leather, or
_papier-mâché_ bring a very good price will also be most apparent to
anybody who will go to a fashionable cabinetmaker and order them.
Thus we will say that a small plain cabinet costs £5. Put into it six
panels, really costing about 6d. each to mould, and the price will be
£10. Such pressed panels are admirably adapted for binding books, as,
when properly made and dried, they cannot warp or bend. If covered with
relief they may be made very beautiful. Simply blackened or browned,
then rubbed with oil, varnished with SOEHNÉE, No. 3, and rubbed by
hand, they are as beautiful as polished wood or leather.
_Papier-mâché_, pulp, or paper powder can be combined with caoutchouc
or indiarubber, which latter can be itself dissolved in benzine,
camphine, sulphuric ether, and other solvent mediums, so as to form a
paste which becomes like indiarubber when dry or as it hardens. Mixed
with sulphur this forms vulcanite. Or it may be combined with white
colouring matter of almost any kind. This can be applied to mending
the broken noses of dolls, or any other wounds which these pretty
semblances of humanity often receive, their beauty being unfortunately
generally more shortlived than that of their prototypes. The final
finish of such reparation is a coat of paint. In many cases this is
better when rubbed on with the finger than when directly painted. The
reader who shall have studied this work will find no difficulty in
restoring any toy.
I may, however, here remark that “no solution of india rubber can be
well moulded without intimate intermixture of sulphur, aided by heat
and pressure. This is a difficult process, and the amateur would do
well, therefore, to purchase rubber composition, which he may do at
any large shop in which rubber goods are made as a specialty” (_Work_,
May 21, 1892).
[Illustration]
It is easy to make any article of _papier-mâché_ if the mere beginning
of a form has once been shaped; because, after that is set, all that we
have to do is to gradually paste one piece of paper on, here and there,
till it is finished. This beginning is very easy if we have an object
on which to begin. Thus take a vase or cup. Oil this, and then lay on
and all around it soft, damp paper. Newspaper will do--a _soft_, white
printing paper. Then, with a broad brush, lay on paste, and apply a
second coat of paper. Press it meanwhile as hard as you can. Continue
this till the _papier-mâché_ is thick enough. When dry, take a penknife
and cut a line through from top to bottom. Scale it off, and reunite
the edges with strong glue; then paste over the line of junction a
strip of paper. Then you will have a cup.
If it be rough, cut it smooth and use glass-paper. When finished it
may be painted or covered with wet leather, which can be worked into
relief. Or it may be made to look like ivory by the process elsewhere
described. Paper may in this process be combined with soft leather
rags; as, for instance, pieces of old gloves out of which the thread
has been taken, old chamois, bookbinders’ clippings, or the like. This
forms effectively leather.
CARTON-PIERRE, or stone-paper, is a very useful composition, which is
very fully described by GEORGE PARLAND in _Work_, July 2, 1893. It
consists of paper scraps, in the proportion of an ordinary washing
boiler or copper one-half full of boiling water and about one-half
paper waste. Add two pounds of best flour-paste; also, in a separate
vessel, a quart of water, into which sprinkle a handful of fine plaster
of Paris. Let it stand ten minutes before mixing it. “When the paper
in the copper has become a fine pulp add the flour-paste, keeping the
whole well stirred. Fifteen minutes after add the plaster, and a few
minutes later rake out the fire from under the boiler. Have ready three
pails of fine ground whiting; pour in one pail of whiting and stir up
well, adding more whiting till the stick used to stir will stand of
itself in the mixture. Let it cool, and it will be ready for use.
“Some firms,” writes Mr. PARLAND, “add powdered alum in the boiling
process, others add one pint of boiled linseed-oil; but if made
according to the previous directions, an excellent _carton-pierre_ will
result, which gives very fine impressions from moulds. If it be cast in
a plaster mould, the latter should have two or three coats of shellac
varnish, and then be well oiled.... In using the _carton_, sprinkle
some fine plaster of Paris on a bench, and taking a lump of the newly
made _carton_, mix it well with dry plaster, adding more plaster, as
bakers would add flour to their dough. Having worked it well in this
way until it will not stick to the fingers, with clean hands roll
pieces very smooth in the palms, or on a smooth level board, and press
each roll into the cavities and hollows of the mould, _often wetting
the edges of the carton_ in the mould before adding a fresh piece to
it. The casts must not be more than from an eighth to a quarter of an
inch in thickness, except at the outside edges of the mould.... The
casts must stand about twenty-four hours, and then be baked in not more
than 100° heat.”
The reader who is specially interested in _papier-mâché_ will find a
series of articles on the subject in _Work_, Nos. 3, 6, 12, 17, 22, 25.
Pipeclay, to which calcined magnesia, whiting, or baryta may be
added or omitted according to the body required, may be combined
with _papier-mâché_ and gluten, such as gum-arabic or dextrine or
flour-paste, which will form under pressure, or even by hand-rolling,
a very hard and finely grained substance, which is specially adapted
to painting pictures. Plates or _tavole_ are sold very cheaply in
Florence of _papier-mâché_, which are as hard, heavy, and glossy as
ebony. It is not generally realised that an expensive hydraulic-press
or steam-engine is not needed by the amateur to harden _papier-mâché_.
A common bread-roller, passed many times over the material, will work
it “down and in,” quite as well as direct pressure, and very often much
better.
_Papier-mâché_ mixed and macerated with indiarubber or gutta-percha and
benzole (_vide_ Indiarubber) forms in many cases a very good substitute
for leather. It can also be combined with _flexible_ varnish to make
leather. Very valuable soles can be made, or broken ones repaired,
by taking card or pasteboard and soaking it in a hot solution of
indiarubber. These waterproofed soles, whether of cardboard or leather,
are easily prepared, as easily applied and renewed, and they will keep
the true sole from wearing out forever, if renewed.
Singular as it seems, there are not many persons who are familiar
with the properties or texture of so familiar a substance as paper.
We know that if wetted it grows soft, but still remains, as it were,
knotty, and that when chewed it does not properly dissolve. Yet if
the reader will take a piece of thoroughly wetted paper, and knead or
macerate it with a knife for some time with gum in solution, he will
find it gradually becomes a soft paste, as flexible and as capable of
moulding as putty or clay. This is not the same as _papier-mâché_,
which consists of paper merely wet or mixed and boiled with paste, and
contains fibre and knottiness. The finely macerated paper, combined
with an adhesive, is ductile, impressionable, sets well, and readily
receives pressure on rolling, under which it becomes extremely hard.
Paper thus _completely softened_ is readily made into sheets, and
may be easily applied not only to fill up worm-holes in leaves and
completely torn-away corners, &c., but is very useful for cracks
and cavities in wood and other substances. It may be made up with
any gums, such as gum-arabic, dextrine, fish-glue, and also with
caseine, gutta-percha, varnish, and most of the substances used in
cements. Paper when thus softened and mixed with, _e.g._, fine glue
and glycerine, or with flour-paste, can be moulded and applied in
ornamental forms to any surface.
There is this great difference between simply _wet_ paper, however wet
it may be, and that which is completely softened by maceration. The
former is always lumpy, the latter passes under the blade of a knife
like soft clay or putty. When made up with gum, glue, and glycerine,
or strong paste, it is, when dry, like light wood, but less brittle.
Kneaded with Indiarubber solution and glue, it becomes like leather,
and can be used in several varieties of repairs. Rolled into sheets,
this composition makes very good and cheap artificial leather for
hangings. To manufacture these, spread the composition with a broad
brush or dabber on a slate or marble table, and when rather dry pass
over it a wooden roller. Some practice is needed not to roll it when
too soft. If intaglio patterns are cut in the roller, the sheets will
give them in relief. It is worth noting here that a great many pieces
of old hangings sold as leather are really only made of _papier-mâché_,
or _carton-cuir_, and glue. These hangings, whether of leather or
counterfeited, can be often bought in a damaged condition very cheaply,
and can be easily restored with this composition, to great profit. When
mixed with white lead, or oil paint and glue, soft paper becomes harder
and firmer, and under pressure is as hard and heavy as any wood. White
paper with holly wood or white larch or lime-tree wood in powder, and
white gelatine--better if bone or ivory dust be added, with a little
Naples yellow (oil)--forms a beautiful cement.
It will be seen by what I have written that cavities, holes, cracks,
and defects in most substances, including wood and leather, can be
perfectly remedied with paper in combination with glue, gum, or other
substances; and as it is always to be obtained, a knowledge of its
nature and applications cannot fail to be of value to all menders and
restorers.