[ 534 ] rJ"'y ^ 



NEW PATENTS AND MECHANICAL INVENTIONS. 



To James Fergusson, of Newman- 

 sheet, Slereotyper and Print/ r ; for 

 Improvcmi nts in Printing fiom Ste- 

 rcoti/pe Plates.— Oct. 18, 1821. 



IN tlic ordinary process of printin<^ 

 from stereotype plates, the plates 

 are put upon, and fastened to, certain 

 materials aud apparatus, called by 

 diflerent names, such as blocks, ma- 

 trix-plates, risers, &c. whicli are made 

 cither of iron, brass, tjpe-metal, bell- 

 metal, Ivoman cement, cfypsum, wood 

 of Marious kinds, or some other suit- 

 able substance ; or, without usinc; any 

 such materials or apparatus, the plates 

 are, or may be, put uptm, or fastened 

 to, the codins or tables of such print- 

 ing-presses as arc in general use, or 

 upon cylindrical or any other sort «f 

 printing-machines. In all cases, how- 

 ever, of printing from stereotype 

 plates, it is necessary to apply some 

 remedy to the unequal thickness of 

 the plates ; and the operation usually 

 adopted is that of putting layers or 

 pieces of pajj'jr, or other material, un- 

 der the thinner places of the plates, or 

 over the same, on or between the 

 lympan or tympans, which operation is 

 technically termed uiider laying and 

 overlay iiig. 



The object of Mr. Fergusson's in- 

 ■veution is to save time and expense 

 ia the opcrat'.:i of underlaying and 

 overlaying; and this object he accom- 

 plishes by putting elastic substances 

 under the stereotype plates, whereby 

 the printed impressions from them are 

 immediately equalized, in whole or in 

 part; for tlie« clastic substances yield 

 to the pressure upon the thicker parts 

 of the plates, and at the same time 

 atlord the necessary resistance for 

 obtaining sufficient strength ot impres- 

 sions from the thinner parts. 'I hese 

 clastic substances are to be interposed 

 between the stereotype plates and 

 whatever solid or firm substance may 

 be made use of, — whether blocks, ma- 

 trix-plates, risers, cylinders, printing- 

 presses, printing-machines, or any 

 other apparatus whatsoever. 



So far as he has made experiments 

 and trials of diiVerent elastic sub- 

 stances, he has found cork to be the 

 liest calculated for the purpose ; and 

 he claims the exclusive right and pri- 

 vilege of applying cork, and any other 

 clastic substance, to all kinds of 

 printing a.pparatus and machines, with 



the view of remedying the inequalities 

 in the thickness of stereotype plates ; 

 and also the sole right and privilege. of 

 manufacturing the elastic articles re- 

 quisite lor the attainment of this 

 object, of vending such articles, and 

 ot granting licences for the use of the 

 same. 'I'he cork is prepared by cut- 

 ting, sawing, rasping, and filing ; and 

 by these means it is wrought to such a 

 uniform thickness as is required ; a 

 quarter of an inch is a proper thick- 

 ness, bnt a less or greater may be 

 adopted. If, when a determinate 

 thickness has been fixed upon, the 

 cork is to be applied to some appara- 

 tus now in use, that apparatus should 

 of course be diminished as much as is 

 the thickness of the ocjrk, in order that 

 the same height to paper may be pre- 

 served. The layers or beds of cork 

 may be formed eitlier of single pieces, 

 cut to the respective sizes of pages, or 

 made up by several slips, whereby 

 they may be adjusted to various 

 widths and lengths. 



To John Oxford, of Little Britain, 

 London ; for an improved Method of 

 preventing premature Decay in Tim- 

 ber, Metallic Substances, ajtd Canvas ; 

 by the application whereof to such 

 several Bodies respectively, the same 

 are respectively rendered impervious 

 to the Dry-rot, Worms, Insects, or 

 Hust, to which the same are respec- 

 tively liable, and the same are thereby 

 rendered more durable, and less liable 

 to decay.— tio\. 1, 1822. 

 From the known antiseptic proper- 

 ties of coal-tar, it has of late years 

 been resorted to in various forms, and 

 for various purposes; but it does not 

 appear to the patentee tliat it has 

 hitherto been applied in the most efB- 

 cacions manner, and he founds his 

 objections to these applications from 

 the plain fact, that the essential oil of 

 the tar, and which is the sole preser- 

 vative contained therein, is by the 

 present methods principally evapo- 

 rated, ansl not absorbed, by the sub- 

 stances to which it has been applied. 

 Particular care should be taken that 

 the oil be divested of all impurities 

 whatsoever, which, when done, it is in 

 fact neither more nor less than pure 

 naphtha. Mr. O. puts it itito proper 

 receivers, containing from two hun- 

 dred and fifty to five Ijundred gallons 

 each, 



