tao 



Improved Book-Case. 



[April I, 



receiveil various invitations, evincing a 

 disposition to establish similar sciiools. 

 At the university are a ronsiderable 

 number of students, who are taugiit va- 

 rioMs branches of mathematics, philo- 

 sophy, Latin, &c.: upon the whole there 

 is an evident improvement among the 

 people in point of education and in- 

 formation, although since the com- 

 mencement of the revolution, there is 

 a great falling off in the mcral conduct 

 ofthe people, more especially in and 

 near the city : in some parts of the 

 country where they have had litde share 

 in tliese transactions, they retain many 

 of their former good qualities, 

 Bue7ioif Ayres , Oct. 21, 1820. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIB, 



IN your Magazine for F(d)ruary is an 

 account of an improved co\-ering 

 for the front of a boolv case, wliii'h your 

 correspondent tells us, (having sent 

 the Number into fiie country I am 

 obliged to trust to memory) he finds to 

 answer ever)' purpose of glass without 

 the inconvenience attendant on the use 

 of that material in doors. 



Now it appears to nje, in the first 

 place, that the contrivance ia question 

 cannot fulfil the principal object for 

 which any covering is necessary, viz. 

 the preservation of the books from dust, 

 smoke, &c. because it is intended to be 

 kept open all day, the time it ought to 

 be closed, and down at night, when 

 there is nothing stirring to create dust, 

 &c. and that were it shut down in the 

 day, the trouble of getting atany of the 

 hooks, added to their exclusion from 

 view (which as your correspondent 

 veiy justly observes, is a consideration 

 not altogether unwortliy of notice) 

 would render it a nuisance instead of a 

 convenience. 



Secondly, that it is difficult to con- 



ceive that glass is as troublesome, if 

 properly managed, as your correspond- 

 ent supposes; he perhaps is not aware 

 that it may be employed to great ad- 

 vantage wit bout the necessity of having 

 it ill doors to open into tlie room. But 

 admitting that the doors are the best 

 frames for glass, (I hope to shew before 

 I have done that they are not) I con- 

 tend, even then, they are preferable to 

 this wooden cm tain, if I may use the 

 expression, on account of its great lia- 

 bility to be out of repair; the only in- 

 stance in which I ever saw it used on 

 an extended scale, nuuli difiicuKy was 

 experienced in getting it to slide, as 

 the lea^t dust, grit, or extraneous body 

 was sufficient to render it a fixture ; and 

 in that state much patience and coaxing 

 were necessary to move it. In one of 

 these fits f Iiey both proved unavailing ; 

 force was moderately applied, the can- 

 vas gave was'— half remained in the 

 hand, lialf retired '■ behind the scenes,'''' 

 whence it was recovered by the removal 

 of the back of the escrufoire to which it 

 belonged. I liave every reason to be- 

 lieve the article itself was perfect in 

 execution, (but that the defect lay in 

 the plan. As to appearance. I suspect 

 the majority of your readers will de- 

 cide with me in favour of glass ; the 

 cost eventtially, I am persuaded, will 

 be less if glass is employed. 



Having attempted to shew that this 

 wooden contrivance will not succeed, 

 it behoves me to present one that will. 

 1 do not j)rofess to offer a new one, but 

 one which has stood the test of experi- 

 ence, a test which so few of our modern 

 inventions are able to stand. 



I have in my possession, as you may 

 easily imagine if youread tlie signature 

 I use, many well-bonnd books, which 

 I find entirely preserved by the old- 

 fashioned sliding-sashes, which move 

 in grooves one before the other, thus : 



m^mmmmmmMmmmi. 



The shaded parts in the above plan 

 are •intended to distinguish the sashes 

 from the grooves. I have cloth glued 

 on the inner sides of each sash, when 

 they meet, and it is then impervious to 

 duit or smoke. The bottoms are pro- 

 vided with rollers, and the grooves 

 dusted every morning, which greatly 

 facilitates the moving them. I have 

 used nothing else since I entered my 



? resent habitation, irow 27years ago, and 

 find in them at once a complete pro- 



tection, and no obstruction to the view. 



For the jireservation of my less va- 

 luable books, I nail a broad heavy 

 fringe along the edges of the shelves oh 

 which they stand, which, hanging down 

 from one shelf to a little below the tops 

 of the books on the shelf underneath, 

 exchtdes the dust, and offers no impe- 

 diment whatever to the removal of any 

 volume, which is not the case when 

 cloth or leather is so placed. 



Th« only apology I have to oflFer for 

 intruding 



