No. XXII.] APPENDIX. 315 



but in these cases the character of the note is adapted to the style of 

 printing, and even there the number printed is so small as to appear 

 insignificant when compared with the number issued by the Bank of 

 England. At the former establishment about 300 impressions are printed 

 every day ; at the latter, nearly 30,000 are produced, as 9,000,000 notes 

 are issued per annum, representing nearly £300,000,000 of money. 



I remember, when a boy, the waggon-loads of machinery which were 

 carted away from the Bank, which had been used for the production of the 

 four millions of one-pound notes, which had been printed and never issued. 

 Of these I cannot learn that one exists as printed for circulation, and the 

 character is so different, that it throws but little light upon the application 

 of typography to the present note. The same observations which apply to 

 the suppressed one-pound note apply equally to the paper-duty stamp, 

 which is familiar to every stationer. 



When we consider the great difficulties which the peculiar water-mark 

 of the bank-note paper has entailed, it never could have succeeded had we 

 not applied a very much improved inking apparatus, assisted by the 

 excellent composition rollers of Messrs. Harrild, the whole being materially 

 helped by a totally novel method of preparing the forme for the press. As 

 far as my examinations have gone, the typography of our cheapest periodi- 

 cals far surpasses in sharpness of impression the very choicest efforts of 

 preceding ages. 



The theory on which my report was founded was deduced from a 

 multitude of facts, and the result has proved that inductive reasoning has 

 not deserted us when brought into practical operation. 



The examination of typography has strikingly shown that invention is 

 rather due to the period than to the man ; and as those who have gone 

 before have taken advantage of the inventions of our predecessors, and 

 again we in turn have received the benefit of their labours, so our suc- 

 cessors will use our experience as a stepping-stone to attain their results. 



If we examine the note through its different stages, we cannot help 

 being struck with astonishment at the care which has been taken to protect 

 the public from imposition. In the manufacture of the paper every sheet 

 must be accounted for, and the Legislature has wisely provided that no 

 person, under the pain of transportation, may manufacture, sell, or expose 

 for sale, paper with the words " Bank of England " in its substance, or any 

 curve bar lines, or any denomination in writing. When it is received in 

 the Bank, it is again counted and arranged by a decimal system, under the 

 care of the treasurer, before it is stowed away. When issued to the printer, 

 the same number must be handed over to the treasurer; and when it 

 receives its final imprint and is converted into the representative of money, 

 it is received by the cashier, who again examines and counts the number. 

 These perfect notes are deposited in a place of security till life is given to 

 them, by being carried as a credit into the Bank books. When it passes 

 into the hands of the public, it is amenable to laws which are known to 

 the authorities of the Bank. Each denomination has a different average 

 duration of life, like individuals in different cities, and some are never 

 heard of again, like people who go to foreign lands, and their fate ever 

 remains unknown. WTien the note returns to the Bank, after inspection, 

 it dies, never to be resuscitated. The signature is torn off, the denominations 

 are punched out, and it becomes a piece of waste paper. The registry of 



