[Illustration: Paper]

Laid paper shows alternate light and dark lines, parallel and close
together. These lines are called _vergures_. There are usually other
lines, an inch or more apart, crossing the _vergures_ at right angles.

Ribbed paper has much the appearance of a fine closely laid paper. It
is, however, a wove paper with a corrugated surface. In oriental
countries, especially Japan, a peculiar, tough, cottony paper is
produced. It is sometimes wove and sometimes laid, usually thin and hard
to tear. I believe this is made from rice straw. Paper which has thin
lines about the distance apart of the ruled lines in writing paper is
called _batonné_, from the French _baton_, a stick or rule. If the
paper between the _batons_ is wove, it is called wove batonné. If the
space is filled with fine laid lines, it is called laid batonné.
_Quadrillé_ paper has laid lines which form small squares. When these
lines form rectangles, it is called oblong quadrillé.

[Illustration: Paper]

[Illustration: Paper]

[Illustration: Paper]

Some of the stamps of Mexico were printed on paper ruled with blue
lines. This was merely ordinary foolscap paper. Many of the early stamps
of Russia were on a paper having the surface coated with a soluble
enamel. This not only gave a very fine impression but, on an attempt to
clean a cancelled stamp, the enamel would wash off, carrying the design
with it.