ART OP PRINTING. 287 



Questions. — 1. What is a cloud? 2. Describe the process by 

 which the watery particles are supposed to become visible clouds. 

 3. What is the process by which other or fresh particles of water are 

 taken up ? 4. Why are clouds generally higher in summer than in 

 winter ? 5. When will clouds fall down in rain ? — in flakes of snow ? 

 6. When do they become hailstones ? 7. How and when is mist or 

 fog produced ? 8. Why do southerly winds generally bring rain ? 9. 

 Why are north winds usually attended with fair weather. 



LESSON 134. 



Invention and Progress of Printing. 

 Glu'tinous, gluey, viscous, tenacious. 



The art of printing deserves to be considered with atten- 

 tion and respect. From the ingenuity of its contrivance, it 

 has ever excited mechanical curiosity ; from its intimate 

 connexion with learning, it has justly claimed historical no^ 

 tice ; and from its extensive influence on morality, politics, 

 and religion, it is now become a very important speculation. 

 Coining, and taking impressions in wax, are of great antiqui- 

 ty, and the principle is precisely that of printing. The ap- 

 plication of this principle to the multiplication of books, 

 constituted the discovery of the art of printing. The Chi- 

 nese have for many ages printed with blocks, or whole pages 

 engraved on wood ; but the application of single letters or 

 moveable types forms the merit of the European art. 



The honour of giving rise to this method has been claimed 

 by the cities of Harlem, Mentz, and Strasburg ; and to each 

 of these it may be ascribed in some degree, as printers resi- 

 dent in each made successive improvements in the art. 



It is recorded by a reputable author, that Laurens Rosier 

 of Harlem, walking in a w^ood near that city, cut some letters 

 upon the rind of a beech-tree, which for fancy's sake, being 

 impressed upon paper, he printed one or two lines for his 

 grand-children ; and this having succeeded, he invented a 

 more glutinous ink, because he found the common ink sunk 

 and spread ; and then formed wliole pages of wood, with 

 letters cut upon them, and (as nothing is complete in its 

 first invention) the backsides of the pages were pasted to- 

 gether, that they might have the appearance of manuscripts 

 vrritten on both sides of the paper. These beechen letters 



