MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 69 



sold in Great Britain was to a manufacturer named Mercian, who is 

 yet one of the largest dealers in the article in London. Mr. Levi 

 Brown is generally acknowledged to have been the pioneer in this 

 country ; and other manufacturers have followed him in rapid succes- 

 sion, until there are now, in various parts of the Union, some twenty 

 establishments. Of these, New York alone (city and State) contains 

 at least a dozen. 



" To render the subject clear and comprehensive, we will briefly 

 trace the formation of a single gold pen through the different stages 

 of its manufacture. 1. The gold is melted, in quantities ranging from 

 a few to many ounces, as the requirements of the establishment may 

 at the time demand. Victoria sovereigns are generally used in prefer- 

 ence to all other qualities of gold ; occasionally, however, fine jewelry 

 is employed for the purpose. Usually, the value of one day's melting 

 is from $300 to $400. This amount suffices the wants of the work- 

 men for about a day and a half or two days. The metal is alloyed 

 with silver and copper for twelve, fourteen, or sixteen carats. 2. The 

 gold is rolled into strips, through a powerful machine, which thins 

 and lengthens the ingot at each revolution. 3. The ' blocks,' or 

 angular morsels of the gold, tapered toward one end, are cut by a 

 separate workman and machine. 4. The tapered ends are filed, half 

 through the thickness of the block. 5. In the niche thus formed, the 

 indium-point is set. This is a very delicate operation, requiring a 

 good eye and an experienced workman. 6. The ' diamond-point : is 

 secured by soldering together the iridium and the gold. A very 

 small but intense heat is applied at the point, by the agency of a 

 minute jet of flame. 7. The point, is ground square. 8. The pen is 

 rolled and hammered. 9. It is cut to the proper shape, in a small, 

 neatly-contrived machine, in which works a steel die. 10. The pen 

 is turned up perfectly semicircular, as it comes to the hand of the 

 purchaser. 11. The point is split, having before been guarded from 

 injury by small grooves in the different machines through which it has 

 passed. 12. After the nib is thus started, another workman cuts the 

 slit the necessary length 13. The nibs are now cut accurately. 14. 

 The points are set together, and the pens filed into shape. 15. They 

 pass into the grinders' hands. 16. They are stoned and polished. 

 17. The nibs are finally adjusted, the point smoothed, and the pen is 

 ready for writing. 18. Every pen is now tried with ink. If it be 

 defective, it returns to the operatives ; if not, but writes readily and 

 smoothly, it is transferred to the office, placed in the holder, and ex- 

 posed for sale. 



" Such, briefly, are the various processes through which every pen 

 is compelled to pass before it is ready for the hand of the purchaser. 

 Iridium, which forms the so-called 'diamond-point' of the gold pen, 

 is the hardest known mineral next to the diamond, and is the only 

 one which at all answers the purposes required in the delicate manu- 

 facture of which we are speaking. The iridium used in this country 

 is from the mines of Siberia, and from South America, and is ob- 

 tained through agents in England, being purchased largely expressly 

 for the use of the gold-pen manufacturers. Its price in gross bulk 



