Western News And The Libby Times

How Wood Came to Be Used for Making Paper
It is hard today, when forests are being demolished to provide paper, to realize how lately paper was first made from wood, writes Mark S. Watson in the Baltimore Sun. The Chinese had used fibers and the early European papers were made from shredded rags, which, of course, explains why paper of that day was so much more durable. But not until 1719 did Reaumur, the eminent French physicist, propose that wood be used. And oddly his inspiration came from the humble wasp, whose nests form very fine paper.
"They extract the fibers of common wood," he writes. "They teach us that paper can be made from the fibers of plants without the use of rags and linen, and seem to invite us to try whether we cannot make fine and good paper from certain woods."
In succeeding decades Reaumur's advice (and the unabated demonstrations by the humble wasp) captured an increasing amount of attention, but it was in 1765 that there started the most notable developments in the use of new materials as substitutes for rags. These were the work of Jacob Schaffer, a Saxon clergyman then resident in Bavaria, who, like Gilbert White, of Selbourne, is better known for his scientific contributions than for his clerical labors.