MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 99 



As to the purposes to which it can be applied : 1. It is equally suitable to 

 all kinds of ordinary printing, whether copperplate, lithography, typogra- 

 phy, paper-hangings, or wood engraving; for it fully admits of the depth of 

 shade in certain parts of the engraving being modified according to taste, 

 without altering the engraving by the usual contrivance of folds of paper 

 cut out so as to throw the part into suitable relief. 2. It is peculiarly suit- 

 able for polychromic printing, whether typographic, lithographic, or copper- 

 plate, and the pressure being only in a vertical direction, the paper or cloth 

 is not liable to be altered in size or form by the pressure, and admits of 

 accurate fitting to the guide-pins as often as the number of colors used may 

 require. 3. It is equally suitable for printing upon all sorts of material, 

 whether paper, cloth, ceramic paste, felt, leather, or caoutchouc. 4. It 

 prints, with a single impression, very much larger plates than it has hereto- 

 fore been possible to do, and it insures the color being uniform over the 

 whole surface. 5. It admits of being used for stereotype and other casts 

 from ordinary printing type, and does not require that frequent touching 

 with the brush which wears away the characters so quickly. 



As to the pressure : 1 . The pressure being that of a fluid communicated 

 through a uniformly yielding surface, will be absolutely equal at ever}' point 

 of the surface, consequently there will be no danger of partial pressure on 

 the plate, nor need there be a pressure upon any part of the plate beyond 

 what is necessary, so that the maximum result is thus obtainable with a 

 minimum of pressure. 2. Any amount of pressure required can be easily 

 obtained. 3. The amount of pressure can be ascertained with precision (for 

 instance, by Bourdon's metallic manometer), and diminished or increased to 

 the exact extent which may be required. 4. Perfectly plane surfaces are 

 no longer the only surfaces capable of being printed. 5. Convex or concave 

 surfaces can thus be printed. 



As to make, form, and size: 1. The press is extremely simple in its con- 

 struction ; almost all the pieces are cast exactly as they are used, and re- 

 quire very little fitting. 2. It can be made of any strength required. 3. It 

 requires no troublesome alterations when the purpose for which it is used is 

 altered. 4. It fits in a very small space, being only four or five inches wider 

 than the printed sheet, whereas the presses hitherto in use are at least four 

 times wider than the printed sheet. 5. It thus admits of being worked in a 

 small and comparatively inexpensive office. 6. Its size being so small, a 

 printer can have several presses of different sizes in his office, so as to be no 

 longer forced to use his large presses for small sheets. 7. It is easily taken 

 asunder and moved. 8. It is on this last account, and the almost impos- 

 sibility of breakage, admirably adapted for exportation. 



As to its working: 1. It requires hardly any effort, and entirely dispenses 

 with the severe labor which the winches and pedals of the present litho- 

 graphic press requires, with the rolling of copper-plate printing, with 

 the difficulty of charging the blocks with color, as well as with the danger 

 of working the huge lever of the ordinary press in printing paper-hangings ; 

 and as it requires' less exertion on the part of the workmen, it gives them 

 more time to attend to the quality of the work, and thus tends to elevate 

 their character. 2. A much greater number of impressions can be taken in 

 a given time than was possible heretofore. 3. The manner of using the 

 press can be learned in an hour. 4. Xo modification of the press, or any 

 of its parts, is necessary when a change is made in the size of the sheet, or 

 otherwise in the nature of the work to be printed. 5. The impression is 



