194 Scientific Intelligence. — Arts. 



J. MuUer, son of the inventor. This method -of printing was 

 afterwards transported to Halle. In a letter of the 28th of 

 June 1709, Mullev acknowledges that he had printed in this 

 manner, a Syriac New Testament, with a Lexicon. — Ferrusac. 



In June 1801, the Messrs Luchtmans addressed the following letter to M. 

 Renouard of Paris, which has been published by M. Camus, in his History 

 of Stereotyping : — " We have sent you a copy of our stereotype Bible, which 

 we take the liberty of offering you as a work truly interesting in regard to 

 the history of the art. All the plates of it are now in our possession, and 

 notwithstanding that many thousand copies have been printed' from them, 

 they are still in very good condition. They are formed by soldering the 

 bottoms of common types together, with some melted substance, to the thick- 

 ness of about three quires of writing paper. The plates were made about 

 the beginning of the last century, by an artist named Van der Mey, at the 

 cost of our late grandfather, Samuel Luchtmans, bookseller. The same ar- 

 tist, at the same time, and in the same manner, also prepared for our grand- 

 father the stereotype plates of a folio Dutch Bible ; these jjlates are at pre- 

 sent in possession of the bookseller Elwe ; and afterwards of a Greek New 

 Testament, on Brevier, and of 24mo size, the plates of which are still pre- 

 served by us. The last work which this artist executed in this manner, was 

 the Novum Testamentwn Syriacttm. et Lexicon Syriacum, by Schauff", 2 volumes 

 4to ; a work sufficiently known. The plates of this last work have been de- 

 stroyed. These instances comprise, as far as our knowledge extends, all the 

 attempts cf this kind which have yet been made in this country.' The plan 

 of stereotyping here described, — " by soldering the bottoms of common types 

 together by some melted substance," — is very different from that now in 

 use. A mould of plaster of Paris is formed from a page of common type, 

 in vvhich a thin plate is cast, containing a fac simile of the face only of the 

 page, and which is afterwards mounted on wood to the necessary height fcr 

 the press. There is no means of accurately ascertaining by whom this im- 

 portant improvement in the art was Urst effected. Our neighbours across 

 the Channel claim it upon the authority- of some old plates of a Calendar to a 

 Prayer-Book, very rudely and impeifectlyiformed of copper, and without a 

 date, but supposed to have been made about 1735. We cannot think, how- 

 ever, of yielding on such proof the merit of the improvement in the inven- 

 tion, when on this side the water we^ have positive names and dates of about 

 the same period, to shew that the art was then practised in this and the sis- 

 ter kingdom; by Mr Ged of Edinburgh, in 1725, and by Mr Tenner and Mr 

 James of London, who absolutely cast plates for Bibles and Prayer-books in 

 the University of Cambridge, in the year 1729-30. — Edit. 



25. Important Experiments. — We have received the follow- 

 ing account of the experiments made with the new marine boiler 

 on Messrs Braithwalte and Ericsson's construction. It is a low 

 pressure boiler ; and, from these experiments, it is evident that 

 the following important advantages will arise to steam naviga- 



