332 



DIRECT NATUKE-PRIMTING FllO.M WOOD. 



[1855. 



alone would rcndev it capable of being made of more value than the 

 most favoured island in point of soil uud climate, not possessing the 

 advantages of that position." 



Our nearly exliausted spaco will only permit us to add to 

 the above copious quotations, an hearty assent to Mr. lioclie's 

 conviction that, besides participating in the main trade of the 

 Province through Quebec, the neighbouring rising settlements 

 up the Saguenay, towards Lake St. John, might be made to 

 contribute to the importance of Anticosti, and that it might 

 eveu become an emporium of a portion of the commerce 

 which Canada is now in a position to open with all parts of the 

 world; for to large vessels coming late in the season oif long 

 voyages from the West Indies, China, &c., it might frequently 

 be of consequence to avoid the delays and dangers attending 

 going up the St. Lawrence. 



Mr. Koche winds up the main position of his interesting 

 and instructive Paper, by stating that after I'ecording all the 

 information received from others, he seized an opportunity of ■ 

 visiting the Island himself, and, in addition to his own personal 

 observations, making enquiries into its present position from' 

 nearly every person residing on it; and that the results fully 

 confirmed all that ho had written ; but to these we are unable 

 to refer ; and he concludes with strenuously recommending 

 the settlement of the Island to be undertaken by a Joint Stock 

 Comimny, if encouraged by a preliminary Survey of it by the 

 Government — very properly observing that notwithstanding- 

 all that he had learnt, it was very evident that " not one-tenth 

 of the Island has ever been explored, or even traversed ; the 

 hunters and fishermen, and others who have been upon it, 

 having confined their excursions to the sea-shore and the prin- 

 cipal rivers, hardly ever venturing any distance back from the 

 latter. Like all countries, Anticosti must contain much bad 

 land as well as good, and the former might he supposed to pi;e- 

 vail along the shore, where, in some parts, there are quaking- 

 hogs, like those of Ireland (which, however, may be drained 

 and be turned into the richest soil), and a good deal of rock ; 

 but, whether the good or the bad land predominate to any ex- 

 tent throughout the Island, there can be no means of ascertain- 

 ing, without a thorough survey of the interior. That much 

 good land, besides those fertile spots which have been pointed 

 out by the various parties referred to, is likely to be discovered 

 by such a survey, the writer is now enabled to show, upon one 

 of the highest ^authorities existing- upon this continent, namely, 

 that of Professor J. Hall, Paleontologist of the jSfew York 

 State Geological Survey, and author of the Palseontology vf 

 Neio York, who, having examined a number of fossils brought 

 from Anticosti, described them as indicating the occurrence of 

 limestone beds, with alternations of shale, the decomposition of 

 which will furnish a productive soil, from abounding in calca- 

 reous matter ; an opinion coincided in by our talented Geolo- 

 logist, Mr. Logan, in addition to his expressing a strong belief 

 that a regular Geological Survey of the Island was likely to 

 lead to discoveries which would give to it an increased economic 

 value ; a specimen of its marble having obtained the first prize 

 at the recent Provincial Exhibition at Quebec. 



In this very judicious suggestion we cordially concur; as 

 not only the most feasible, but also likely to be the most speedy 

 as well as most successful mode of carrying ou.t an enterprise 

 -which, we have long been persuaded, will prove of incalculable 

 henefit to the country, and be certain of, in a few years, trans- 

 forming the long-dreaded, desolate shores of Anticosti into a 

 cheerful view of cultivated farms and thriving villages, sprin- 

 kled round well-frequented harbours and profitable fishing sta- 

 tions. 



AVc now bring our lengthened quotations and remarks to 

 a close, with thankful acknowledgments to the talented 

 author for having directed public attention to a new, promis- 

 ing and extensive field for various kinds of industry, and not 

 without a hope that the considerate suggestions contained in 

 the few following lines may be speedily acted upon : — 



" As Anticosti belongs to a number of persons, some of them resid- 

 ing in Canada, and others in England, T\ho are not likely to combine 

 in any comprehensive plan for developing its resources, but who would 

 no doubt be prepared to dispose of their interest in it at a reasonable 

 price, it is to be desired, that either the Government, or some public 

 company in Canada or England, or one belonging to both countries, 

 should purchase the island, and expend sufficient means, which the 

 present proprietoi s could not afford, in turning its resources into ac- 

 count. Of tlie two, a company, which conld enter into the several un- 

 dertakings glanced at in this commuiiicition, would be the more suit- 

 able for the purpose; but the field may be made to embrace so many, 

 and sucli varied objects, that it could well give employment to several 

 distinct companies. Thcie might then be a colonization company, m 

 fishing company, and a commercial company ; the iirst purchasing the 

 whole island, and selling or leasing to the others, those portions of the 

 coast at wliich the operalions of the latter could be most conveniently 

 carried on. A thorough survey, however, of the whole island might 

 be well undertaken b}' the Governmentin themeantime ; for, although 

 it belongs to pi-ivate individuals, it is of the highest public importance, 

 for many reasons, which must suggest themselves in the course of this 

 communication, that the island should not be allowed to continue in its 

 present state of desolation ; besides which, every large addition made 

 to the inhabited seaboard of the St. Lawrence, must materially increase 

 the commerce, the shipping, and the wealth of the Province.'' 



Eireet Jfature-Printing from Wood, 

 IN AN ENDLESS WAT, APPLIED TO THE DECORATIVE ARTS. 



BY FELIX ABATE, OF NAPLES. 



In the first communication I had the honour to make to the 

 Society of Arts* on this invention, I described two different 

 processes which I employ for the purpose ; the one of them 

 depending upon the effects produced by the joint action of 

 acids and heat upon vegetable substances ; and the other, a 

 more complex one, as it comprises the diiferent processes upon 

 which the art of dyeing and printing textile materials rests. 

 Both these processes, by different means, produce nearly 

 indentical results. 



In order to bring my invention to practical utility, and make 

 it serve the various purposes of the decorative arts to which it 

 may be applied, I thought it was requisite that the nature- 

 prints should be made in an endless way, as is done for woven 

 stulfs, which, being an essential point for the application of the 

 invention to house decoration, is undoubtedly the most suitable 

 way to obtain that cheapness of manufactui-e which is the first 

 condition for the general adoption and success of every new in- 

 vention. I had then to choose between the two above-mentioned 

 processes to which of them I should give the preference, and I 

 found the second one to be in many respects superior to the 

 other. 



A machine, constructed upon the principle of the cylinder 

 printing-machine, was then requisite for my purpose, in which 

 the printing cylinder should be made, either solid or veneered, 

 of the wood from which impressions are intended to be taken. 

 However, this contrivance, which in the last quarter of a century 

 has brought such important results in the art of printing textile 

 manufactures, could not be applied to the above purpose with- 

 out meeting with peculiar difficulties, against which, in fact, I 

 had long to contend. The most serious of these difficulties 



* See .Jonrnal of the Society of Arts, Vol. ii., p. 539. 



