He appeared to be buried either in a reverie, or in some profound speculation.
It was the latter: as was very soon after made manifest by his speech.
"Perhaps," said he, with a hopeful glance towards the wood, "we may not be so deficient in the material of which you have spoken." "Of paper, do you mean ?" "We are in the very region of the world where it grows," continued Karl, without heeding the interrogation.
"What! where paper _grows_ ?" "No," replied Karl, "I do not mean that the paper itself grows here; but a `fabric' out of which that useful article may be made." "What is that, brother ?" "It is a tree, or rather a shrub, belonging to the order of the _Thymelaceae_, or `Daphnads.' The plants of this order are found in many countries; but chiefly in the cooler regions of India and South America.

There are even representatives of the order in England: for the beautiful `spurge laurel' of the woods and hedges--known as a remedy for the toothache--is a true daphnad.

Perhaps the most curious of all the Thymelaceae is the celebrated Lagetta, or lace-bark tree of Jamaica; out of which the ladies of that island know how to manufacture cuffs, collars, and berthas, that, when cut into the proper shapes, and bleached to a perfect whiteness, have all the appearance of real lace! The Maroons, and other runaway negroes of Jamaica, before the abolition of slavery, used to make clothing out of the lagetta; which they found growing in plenty in the mountain forests of the island.

Previous also to the same abolition of slavery, there was another, and less gentle, use made of the lace-bark, by the masters of these same negroes.

The cruel tyrants used to spin its tough fibres into thongs for their slave-whips." "And you think that paper can be made out of these trees ?" asked Caspar, impatient to know whether there might be any chance of procuring some for the covering of a kite.
"There are several species of daphnads," replied the botanist, "whose bark can be converted into paper.