398 Scientific Intelligence. [May 



The preparation of quills, or touching; as it is called, is a curious 

 and nice process. The Dutch possessed the complete monopoly of 

 the quill manufacture until about JO years ago, when the process 

 was introduced into this country, and now our quills are infinitely 

 superior to those of Holland. 



The quills are first moistened, not by immersion, but by dipping 

 their extremities into water and allowing the remaining parts to 

 absorb moisture by capillary attraction. They are then heated in 

 the fire or in a charcoal choffer, and are passed quickly under an 

 instrument with a fine edge which flattens them, in such a manner 

 as to render them apparently useless. They are then scraped, aud 

 again exposed to heat, when they are restored to their original form. 

 This is a remarkable fact, and deserves to be attended to. It may be 

 illustrated by taking a feather and crushing it with the hand, so as to 

 destroy it to all appearance. If we now expose it to the action of steam 

 or a similar temperature, it will speedily assume its pristine condition. 



Many of the quills after this preparation are cut into pens by 

 means of the pen cutters knife, and are also trimmed. A pen cutter 

 will cut in a day, two-thirds of a long thousand, which consists of 

 1200 according to the Stationers' computation. A house in Shoe 

 Lane, cuts generally about six millions of pens, and last year, not- 

 withstanding the introduction of steel pens, it cut many more than 

 it had done in any previous years. According to the calculations 

 of the pen makers not more than one pen in ten is ever mended. 



About thirty-one years ago, Mr. Bramah introduced portable 

 pens into this country from New York, and took out a patent for 

 their manufacture. The process for making portable pens is to form 

 a vertical section of the barrel of the quill and polish the pieces. 

 The pens are then cut with a beautiful instrument, each quill afford- 

 ing six pens. When they have been nipped coars?ly, a polish is 

 given with the pen-knife. Sixty thousand of these pens are manu- 

 factured weekly by two houses. An attempt was made to apply 

 steel tips to portable quill pens, but the success which was anticipated 

 did not follow. 



Metallic pens appear to have been first introduced as rewards for 

 merit, but steel pens for writing were first made by Mr. .Wise, in 

 1803, and were fashioned like goose pens. 



A patent was taken out in 1812, for pens with flat cheeks, and in 

 this way all metallic pens were made for some time, as the rhodium 

 pen of Dr. Wollaston, and the iridium pen of others. About twelve 

 years ago, Mr. Perry began to make pens, and about six years ago 

 they began to be manufactured at Birmingham. The steel is pressed 

 into thin sheets by a rolling press. It is then cut into slips, annealed 

 for fourteen hours, and again passed under the roller. By means 

 of a peculiar cutting machine the pens are formed in a falchion shape. 

 But one half of the steel is thus wasted, and no use has been found 

 for it. It is so thin that it cannot be welded, and it cannot be melted 

 because it catches fire, and burns in consequence of the air getting 

 access between its thin leaves. The fibres of the steel run in one 

 direction, and the pens are cut in accordance with this disposition. 

 The pens are then annealed. The preparation for forming the slit 

 then takes place. An extremely fine edged chisel is brought down 

 upon each separately, and is allowed to penetrate I through its sub- 



