96 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



with a manifest improvement in each operation, until the cohesive 

 property of the fibre out of which the lace was made became destroyed 

 by the pressure. 



Ornaments in lace or paper will also leave their impress upon a steel 

 plate most distinctly, and in very considerable relief or incision ; this has 

 been proved by actual experiment. The fitness of thread lace for the 

 purpose is much improved by its immersion in a starchy liquid, and 

 thereafter drying the same on heated cylinders, viz., such as are used by 

 lace or ribbon manufacturers. Lace net, and sewed work on muslin, 

 appear to be best fitted for giving impressions upon tin or Britannia 

 metal in the indented manner. A style of ornamentation in relief is 

 produced by the substitution of cut-out or perforated paper, or metal ; 

 thus the employment of perforated zinc as a medium resulted in one 

 of the most perfect of specimens yet produced. When paper is to be 

 used, the design is to cut out as a stencil pattern, or such as is used in 

 poonah-painting, or as the metallic perforated or cut-out plates for 

 marking cases ; this paper or sheet of metal, occupies the same posi- 

 tion as the lace, viz., between the two sheets ; the three thicknesses 

 being then passed through the rolls, interstices or perforations in the 

 paper appear with a raised surface, bright the surrounding metal 

 being dead or matted. The durability of such a tender substance as 

 paper will excite astonishment, when we say that eighteen salvers 

 were ornamented with a single piece of perforated paper. In using 

 paper for the purpose of a pattern, its usefulness and durability are 

 considerably increased by immersion in a liquid metallic solution 

 such as sulphate of copper or tin rolling the same on hot cylinders, 

 or subjecting it to the action of a powerful press ; this serves to render 

 the paper tough, compact, and prevents elongation from taking place 

 between the metals. Ordinary sand-paper produces the most perfect 

 dead matted surface imaginable ; though the softest of the materials 

 already specified as being used for the purpose of producing the orna- 

 ment, leaves its impress upon tinned iron, German silver, sheet brass, 

 copper, or Britannia metal. 



It will readily be understood that the depth, as has been explained, 

 varies according to the hardness of the metal which is desired to be 

 ornamented ; thus lace, which gives a comparatively deep impress 

 upon the alloys of tin, gives one of a shallower kind on nickel silver. 

 To secure the requisite depth of ornamentation on the harder metals, 

 it became necessary to devise a means by which delicate lace formed 

 out of metallic wire could be produced. It is one of the peculiarities 

 of our country, that on a difficulty or a want being suggested, there 

 are thousands of active brains and hands ready, at a moment's notice, 

 to try to obviate the difficulty or supply the want ; the result in the 

 present instance has been the adaptation of a lace machine for the 

 production of a gossamer, web-like lace, formed of wire, which, when 

 applied so as to take the place of the thread lace, or the metallic sat- 

 urated paper pattern, (viz., between the sheets of metal to be orna- 

 mented,) on German silver, brass, or copper, leaves a deep, clear, 

 and distinct series of reticulations or indentations, corresponding to 



