270 Mr, Henry Bradbury [May 9, 



doing more, the Art-question of this suhject ought to hold an 

 important place in its consideration. The peculiar advantage of the 

 Electro over the Siderographic process will be apparent, seeing that 

 the Electro copies the whole surface— and furthermore, it copies 

 the exact state of the plates, without requiring the aid of scraper or 

 burnisher, or that careful retouching and deepening of lines so 

 indispensable to the success of Siderography. 



The term Siderographic has been made use of in connection with 

 Bank Note printing. This is a process for transferring figures 

 from steel to steel, and thus multiplying the number of plates to be 

 printed from. It is one of exceeding simplicity ; but, as in most 

 cases of the kind, however simple it may appear, it requires more 

 than ordinary skill to effect successfully that little of which it is 

 capable. It consists in taking up an engraved plate upon a roller 

 of softened steel, a combination of rolling and pressure. The 

 engraved subject thus stands in relief upon the roller. Identical 

 plates are thus said to he produced. The objections are threefold, 

 — First, every subject so transferred must be subsequently retouched 

 by the graver. Secondly, its transferring properties are limited to 

 very small subjects. Thirdly, and as a consequence, it is inapplicable 

 to the manufacture of complex notes. 



Siderography has been in use for thirty years or more in 

 America ; in fact, it was the invention of an American : but the 

 Notes of the United States Government are not, and never have 

 been — beautiful as their execution is — carried out after the principles 

 advocated abdve. Referring to the American Notes, it is a curious 

 fact that America being divided into so many States, and each State 

 being represented by a different note, forgers did not think it worth 

 their while to imitate, and therefore concocted notes of their own. 



It may prove interesting to supply some information concerning 

 the Bank Notes of other countries. They carry on the face of them 

 the absence of all those qualities which have been insisted upon, 

 and actually in many instances appear to offer a premium to forgery. 

 The aim would appear to have been to make them as ugly as 

 possible, without affording them any counterbalancing security. 

 Individual figures may be well executed — mechanical workmanship 

 may also seem to be well done — but they are utterly destitute of 

 leading ideas and harmonious properties — the true attributes of a 

 Note. 



The Notes of the United States present engraved specimens of 

 the highest order, but the subjects selected seem irrespective of 

 their purpose, and the multiplicity of the figures distracts the 

 attention. Again, there are the Austrian Notes. These fall con- 

 siderably below the standard of American excellence. Vague in 

 design, coarse in execution, the broken character of their design 

 and the inconvenience of their shape render them unfitted for their 

 purpose. Prussian Notes too partake of the same objections — 



