300 APPENDIX. [No. XXII. 



period, that from facts and observations which had come under my notice, 

 I believed that the time had arrived when surface-printing from electro- 

 types could be advantageously employed for Bank of England notes, and 

 that they could be both printed and numbered by ordinary printing- 

 presses, with considerable saving of expense and increased identity of 

 appearance. In presenting this report I further stated that many difficul- 

 ties presented themselves, and, therefore, I would suggest that a trial be 

 permitted upon the cheque, and, when the production of this was brought 

 to perfection, we might carry on our processes upon the bank-note, with 

 such extended experience as the printing of the cheque might afford. 



Heretofore the notes and cheques of the Bank of England had inva- 

 riably been printed from copper and steel plates, in which the lines were 

 engraved or cut into the metal. Into these hollows the printers rubbed 

 the ink, which, in process of printing, was transferred from the plate to 

 the paper. In surface-printing the reverse state of things exists, as the 

 design, instead of being cut in the plate, is left in relief, and the ink being 

 applied to the eminences by means of the rollers, is transferred in the 

 press to the paper to form the impression. 



For plate-printing, a single cut with a graver forms a groove which 

 holds the ink. For surface-printing a line must be cut on both sides, and 

 equally finished on both sides. This materially increases the difficulty of 

 engraving, yet the difficulty simply resolves itself into one of labour, skill, 

 and expense. 



Having an original design, the means of multiplication must be per- 

 fect ; and here, although I foresaw many difficulties, yet my electro-metal- 

 lurgical experience indicated that the perfection which the Bank required, 

 and the mercantile community demanded, might be obtained. With a 

 sufficiently excellent original and ample power of duplication, the very 

 important question which had necessarily to be solved was the capacity of 

 the surface press to give such a print as would serve our purpose. 



In plate-printing the paper is pressed into the grooves or design, and 

 there is no tendency of the ink to spread, but in surface-printing there is 

 a liability for the paper to be pressed round the edge of the letters, or, 

 from the pressure applied, for the ink to be spread over the margin, when 

 an extended print would be produced from the original design. I foresaw 

 that the success of surface-printing for bank purposes must depend upon 

 the power of the press to yield rapidly, perfect impressions. In this mat- 

 ter my experience was in a great measure founded upon the observation of 

 the impressions of the ' Illustrated London News,' and periodicals of 

 similar character, when I observed that even with their rapid production, 

 under the most unfavourable circumstances, at times we obtained, either 

 entirely or partially, perfectly sharp impressions, without any appreciable 

 lateral extension of the ink. From this I concluded that it was only 

 necessary to study the conditions necessary to have a clear impression, and 

 in this matter surface-printing would rival plate-printing, and besides give 

 us all the advantages which are pre-eminently the characteristics of 

 typography. 



In accordance with this report, Mr. Hankey at once directed the 

 experiments to be commenced, and subsequently allowed me to act with 

 Mr. Hensman, the engineer, and Mr. Coe, the superintendent of printing ; 

 and though each of us had our separate departments in which our indi- 



