rpent served for Homer's _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_; and that the
_Koran_ was written in part on shoulder-bones of mutton, kept in a
domestic chest by one of Mahomet's wives.

We now come to the great period of writing-papers made from cotton and
linen rags, as used at the present day, and which from the first were
so perfect that they have since undergone no material improvement.
Cotton-paper was an Eastern invention, probably introduced in the ninth
century, although not generally used in Europe till about the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. Greek manuscripts are found upon it of the earlier
period, and Italian manuscripts of the later. It seems to have prevailed
at particular periods, in particular countries, according to the
facilities for procuring it, as it now does almost exclusively in
America. Linen paper, the most valuable and important of all the bases
available for writing or printing, is likewise supposed to have been
introduced into Europe from the East, early in the thirteenth century,
although not in general use till the fourteenth.

Before the end of the fourteenth century, paper-mills had been
established in many parts of Europe, first in Spain, and then
successively in Italy, Germany, Holland, and France. They seem to have
come late into England, for Caxton printed all his books on paper
imported from the Low Countries; and it was not till Winkin de Worde
succeeded him, in 1495, that paper was manufactured in England. The
Chinese are supposed to have used it for centuries before, and appear to
have the best title to be considered the inventors of both cotton and
linen paper.

Paper may be made of many other materials, such as hay, straw, nettles,
flax, grasses, parsnips, turnips, colewort leaves, wood-shavings, indeed
of anything fibrous; but as the invention of printing is not concerned in
them, I see no occasion to consider their merits.

Before I pass from paper, it may not be irrelevant to say a word or
two on the names by which we distinguish the sorts and sizes. The
term "post-paper" is derived from the ancient water-mark, which was a
post-horn, and not from its suitableness to transport by post, as many
suppose. The original watermark of a fool's cap gave the name to that
paper, which it still retains, although the fool's cap was afterward
changed to a cap of liberty, and has since undergone other changes. The
smaller size, called "pot-paper," took its name from having at first
been marked wit