3 



the machine, (taken from the Rose Engine,) had not been in op- 

 eration when he took it away. I have no recollection of having 



heard Mr. Gobrecht speak of the machine afterwards. 



Soon after the delivery of it, Mr. Gobrecht exhibited his repre- 

 sentation of the head of the Emperor Alexander. The novelty of 

 its appearance attracted great attention, and was a subject of eager 

 inquiry among the curious, as to how it was done, but Mr. Go- 

 brecht maintained a rigid silence on the subject. It remained a 

 profound and guarded secret, until I had prepared a machine of 

 the same kind for my own use, and taken it to London, whither 

 my business called me, and where it was finished and put in op- 

 eration by me ; and then and there, for the first time, I saw the 

 appendage for ruling waved lines, in action, and was surprised to 

 see with what truth and accuracy the model was represented on 

 the plate under the etching point. The idea of changing the 

 model immediately suggested itself. The waved model was re- 

 moved, and a shilling put in its place, when a tolerable copy was 

 at once produced. A distinguished machine-engraver tried the 

 same experiment by my directions, at his place in Somerstown 

 near London, with great success. When I asked him how he 

 had succeeded, his answer was, "perfectly, it would not only copy 

 the waved model, but any device that I put under the touch." 



During my stay in London, nothing was done to bring the art 

 of medal ruling into notice. On my return to Philadelphia, I 

 was the first to unveil the mystery of medal ruling, but being 

 deeply engaged in introducing improvements in bank-note engrav- 

 ing, I gave no attention to it until about 1826 or '7, when think- 

 ing it might afford an additional security against counterfeiting, 

 I put my machine a little in order for experimenting, and execu- 

 ted a large plate, containing medals, a copy of which I herewith 

 send you. The work was much admired. Impressions from the 

 plate soon found their way to Europe, and excited to exertion the 

 ingenious mechanicians of London and Paris. Mr. Saxton of this 

 city also exercised his ingenuity on the subject. I do not per- 

 ceive, however, in these specimens a greater degree of perfection 

 than in my own. I find. not the least difficulty in believing, that 

 Mr. Saxton was enabled, by his own scientific skill, to remove 

 the cause of the distortion. When this defect was pointed out 

 to me in my specimen, which was not till some time after it was 



done, (it was not very glaring, and, in low relief, would not have 



