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Mr. Francis Gallon 



[Jan. 27, 



profiles, and making a small protractor with a piece of tracing paper, 

 rapidly laid down a series of equidistant points on the above 

 principle, noting at the same time the bearing of each from its 

 predecessor. I thereby obtained a formula for the profile, consisting 

 of 271 letters. Then I put aside the drawing, and set to work to 

 reproduce it solely from the formula. I exhibit the result ; it is 

 fairly successful. Emboldened by this first trial, I made a more 

 ambitious attempt, by dealing with the profile of a Greek girl copied 

 from a gem. I was very desirous of learning how far the pure 

 outline of the original admitted of being mimicked in this rough way. 



The result is here ; a ring has been painted round each dot in order 

 to make its position clearly seen, without obliterating it. The repro- 

 duction has been photographically reduced to various different sizes. 

 That which contains only fifty dots to the inch, which is consequently 

 six times as coarse as the theoretical 300 to an inch, is a very 

 creditable production. Many persons to whom this portrait has been 

 shown, failed to notice the difference between it and an ordinary 

 woodcut. The medium size, and much more the smallest size, would 

 deceive anybody who viewed them at the distance of one foot. The 

 protractor used in making them was a square card with a piece cut 



