434 STEPHEN PRESTON RUGGLES. 



bulky and unwieldy, as well as costly ; with quick perception he very 

 soon ascertained that he could produce a type of less size and less 

 height of face, which the blind could read as well, if not better, than 

 the old-fashioned kind. He accordingly altered the size, the height 

 and bevel of the face of the type repeatedly, each time taking impres- 

 sions and practising reading with the blind pupils till he informed 

 himself accurately what they could read best. By these experiments 

 he made himself acquainted with the important fact, that, if the type 

 were comparatively small and the face but slightly raised, they could 

 be read with ease and rapidity, provided the raised impression on the 

 paper was hard and sharp. 



Having prepared the type, he now commenced printing, and after 

 many trials and experiments with the strongest printing-presses in use, 

 and after breaking two of them without succeeding in obtaining such 

 an impression as he required, he was obliged to invent and build a 

 more powerful press of an entirely new construction. This new press 

 he so contrived that it could be worked by the blind; and, while it gave 

 a pressure of three hundred tons at each impression, would at the same 

 time throw off work at the rate of eighteen sheets per minute, thus 

 working about as fast as the ordinary newspaper power-presses. 



After succeeding in the construction, both of his type and press, a 

 new and unexpected difficulty presented itself. 



There was no paper to be found properly adapted for the purpose of 

 this kind of printing or embossing. That which was hard enough 

 would break through, and be rough, when embossed or printed ; and 

 that which was flexible enough not to crack or break through would 

 flatten down when pressed upon by the fingers of the reader. However, 

 after many experiments on the manufacture of paper with gums, resins, 

 and gelatine, he produced a paper stiff and hard, like parchment, that 

 would receive a sharp and distinct impression, that would stand firm 

 and unyielding when pressed by the fingers, and that would not break 

 or crack under the pressure of the press. 



After perfecting the new method of printing books, Mr. Ruggles 

 next invented a new method of making maps for the blind, which 

 proved eminently successful. This he accomplished by a raised char- 

 acter similar to his type, but arranged with sucli combinations that at 

 a trifling expense he could produce a succession of maps of any size 

 and of any country. Maps made in this manner were never before 

 known, and the Perkins Institution in Boston immediately issued an 

 " Atlas of the United States, and a General Atlas." 



We cannot in this brief notice call atteutioti to all of Mr. Ruggles's 



