January 25, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



57 



up, as it were, ready for use, fifty or more characters, and these are 

 made to appear upon the paper, in proper place and order, by the 

 automatic action of the machine, even after the operator ceases 

 work at the key-board. • 



A unique feature of the invention is that by which the lines are 

 "justified;" that is, lengthened or shortened to conform to the 

 width of the column or page. To do this, when movable types are 

 used, as in ordinary type-setting, the compositor, when the line is 

 nearly completed, puts thicker or thinner spaces between the words. 

 Otherwise the lines would be unequal in length, presenting a ragged 

 appearance, similar to that of type-written work. By an ingenious 

 device upon this machine, when a sufficient number of words to 

 approximately fill a line have been registered or " pinned " upon 

 the revolving disk, the justifying or spacing between the words is 

 done automatically; and when the words subsequently appear 

 upon the paper, they fill the line as accurately as do the words in 



city, who are now erecting extensive workshops for its manufac- 

 ture. The chief moving spirit in the enterprise of bringing it to 

 the front and putting it upon a commercial basis is Mr. Edward 

 F. Underbill, official stenographer of the New York Surrogate's 

 Court, who has had it in use in his office for several months, with 

 highly satisfactory results. 



METHYLATED ALCOHOL. 



The employment of alcohol so adulterated as to render it unfit 

 for use as a beverage, free of tax, in the arts and manufactures, has 

 lately been receiving attention by Congress. To prevent fraud on 

 the revenue, the degree of adulteration that would be permitted 

 should be governed by two considerations, — first, the minimum 

 amount of adulterant that should be added to make the subsequent 

 purification of the alcohol unprofitable ; and, second, the maximum 



this line, and the spacing between the words is as even as it could 

 be made by the most expert compositor. In fact, the spacing is, 

 and must of necessity be, mathematically correct. 



The reproduction of the work done on the machine now on ex- 

 hibition is accomplished by lithography. The printing by the ma- 

 chine is done with lithographic ink on paper specially prepared. 

 The impression is then transferred to stone in the usual manner, 

 and the desired number of copies struck off. The first printing or 

 composing on the machine is done in less than a fourth of the time 

 required when movable types are used, the ordinary speed being 

 from twenty to twenty-five words a minute. The cost of transfer- 

 ring to stone is said to be less than the " making up " of forms for 

 the press in ordinary printing, and there is no " distribution " of 

 type. 



This machine has also been tested with a view to making ma- 

 trices for the casting of stereotype plates, but the experiments have 

 not been carried sufficiently far, as yet, to determine what may be 

 accomplished by it in that direction. The patents covering the 

 machine are controlled by the Graphic Process Company of this 



amount of adulterant that can be added without rendering the use 

 of such adulterated alcohol unsuitable in the arts and manufac- 

 tures. 



Compounds known as methylated spirits, made by adulterating 

 pure grain spirits, free of tax, with wood naphtha (methyl alcohol), 

 are more expensive than such pure spirits, because the adulterant is, 

 contrary to what is usual in such cases, more costly than the arti- 

 cle adulterated. 



For most manufacturing purposes, the addition of any amount of 

 adulterant to grain alcohol must be regarded as just so much added 

 useless matter. Besides, there is no purpose for which methylated 

 spirits is used where the employment of grain alcohol would not 

 yield both a cleaner and better product ; in addition, there are many 

 cases in which methylated spirits cannot be used at all. 



Let us see what has been done in this matter in England and 

 Germany, where laws and regulations on the subject have been 

 enacted. 



^ Paper i 

 Richards. 



1 before the Chemical Society of Washington, Ja 



1889, by Edgar 



