BANK NOTES. ' 277 



PARASOLS. 



This may be considered too fanciful an article to be manufac- 

 tured from these fabrics at the present day, and yet it may be 

 claimed that the drapery tissue, and corded tissue, and coated 

 florence, are fine and delicate enough to answer this use. It, 

 however, remains to be decided whether these fabrics are suffi- 

 ciently freed from the odor of the gum to be used for this pur- 

 pose. The parasol or shade, which is made without a frame, to 

 be inflated with air through a caoutchouc ivory handle, with a 

 valve at the end of the handle, is noticed simply as a curiosity, 

 without any pretensions as to its practical utility. See plate 

 . fig- • 



BANK NOTES. 



Specimens of bank notes have been made upon tissue, which 

 are excellent imitations of tissue paper bank notes, and which, 

 in many respects, and particularly as regards counterfeiting, 

 possess great advantages over paper. The first cost of this 

 material is greater than that of bank note paper, and whether it 

 is an application, all things considered, that will obtain the ap- 

 probation of banking institutions, is a subject for discussion. 

 That they would be highly approved by the public if issued, 

 there is little doubt, for the following reasons. Even if the 

 secret of their manufacture were known, it would be an exceed- 

 ingly difficult matter to counterfeit them. The countei-feiter 

 would have an additional trade to learn, more confederates to 

 employ, and would be much exposed in the manufacture to de- 

 tection, by the chemical processes that are used, the fumes of 

 which it would be difficult to conceal. In regard to cleanliness, 

 these notes would possess immense advantage. Few substances 

 are less objectionable on account of odor than these notes. 

 They can be cleansed as easily as glass, by washing or boiling, 

 without injury to the tissue or the engraving, which defies 

 the powers of chemistry either to extract the ink or to alter the 



