598 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



knows crystalized carbon is diamond ! Among these crystals 

 some were black, others mucli smaller were perfectly translucent 

 and octohedrous. They were tried by Mon. Gaudin, a very dis- 

 tinguished lapidary, who found in them all the properties of the 

 diamond. They burned without any residuum — polished rubies 

 quickly. 



[Journal of Arts, November, 1856.] 



STENOGRAPHIC MACHINE. 



Thomas Almgill states his experiments. I endeavor to trans- 

 fer to paper by means of thin slips of plane tree, one attached to 

 my chin, one to each of my lips and for my tongue, these all 

 secured to their places by means of slightly elastic thread passed 

 around my head to keep them in position when acted on by the 

 organs of speech. To each of these pieces I had jointed long pieces, 

 about eight inches each and not quite so thick as a pen holder. 

 That, of course, for the tongue, at its extremity, was made much 

 thinner so as to work with as little obstruction as possible. About 

 half way or at four inclies from the mouth these small rods 

 worked through jointed sockets freely fixed in suitable bearings 

 and connected at their ends to the ends of four other longer rods, 

 about eighteen inches in length, and placed at right angles to the 

 smaller set, the ends of each being connected by joints. These 

 joints are loose. At fifteen inches from these joints are four 

 universals fastened in proper frame work, in which these longer 

 rods are securely fixed. To the unattached ends of these latter 

 rods are the pointers or tracers, which trace the motions made in 

 the articulation of speech. None of these natural motions are 

 straight, but each word forms a combination of curves propor- 

 tioned in their size to the vehemence or lowness of the utterance 

 of words. The tracers are placed in sockets to which are attached 

 small helical springs, from each of these tracers is a small wire 

 fastened to a string, by which the speaker lifts the pencils from 

 the paper at the termination of each word or syllable. The 

 pointers must have small adjusting springs to keep them in posi- 

 tion before and after using. The head is to be kept steady in 

 speaking so as to give regularity to the written or traced lines. 

 The method of trial which I adopted Avas extremely simple, con- 

 sisting of two slides or guides for the carriage on which was fas- 

 tened the tracing paper, a long screw, a spur-wheel, catch and 

 handle. At each word or syllable I moved a tooth, and although 

 the motions were not well defined from the loose construction of 

 the machine, they were sufficiently satisfactory to establish a 



