Mechanic Arts, 399 



surpassing every thing of the kind which had be- 

 fore issued from the press. Various inventions, to 

 abridge labour in the business of letter-foundery, 

 have also been made v^ithin this period; of these, 

 perhaps, few are entitled to be mentioned with 

 more respect than that of Mr. Apollos Kinsley, 

 an ingenious American, who is said to have devised 

 a method of abbreviating, to an astonishing degree, 

 the necessary process in this manufacture.^ 



The discoveries made within a few years past 

 in the philosophy of Tanning, have greatly facili- 

 tated the process, and promoted the interests of 

 that important art. For these the public are in- 

 debted to Dr. Macbride, Messrs. Fay, Seguin, 

 Desmond, and several others. 



The still more numerous and radical improve- 

 ments which late years have produced in the art of 

 Bi^ewing, are no less worthy of notice. The suc- 

 cessive investigations, and valuable writings of Sir 

 Robert Murray, M. Combrune, Mr. Richard- 

 son, Mr. Ker, and Mr. Long, on this subject, are 

 worthy of respectful notice in marking the progress 

 of the age under review. 



In the art of Bleaching, also, important disco- 

 veries and improvements were made, in the course 

 of the last age, especially toward the close of it. 

 The speculations and experiments of Drs. Home 

 and Black, and Mr. Watt, of Great-Britain; 

 and of Messrs. Chaptal, Berthollet, Pi\jOT 

 DE Charmes, and Beaume, of France; besides 

 those of many other chemists and practical artists, 

 have contributed to place this art, so interesting to 

 manufacturers, entirely on a new footing, within a 

 few years past. Instead of the old process, which 

 ordinarily employed a number of weeks, and even 

 several months, recent discoveries have furnished 



q Amer'nan Revie-Wj and Literary 'Journal, vol, i. No. I. 



