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is more or less fibrous and unfit to receive delicate engra- 
vings, and that by decarbonating the surface of cast steel a 
pure iron surface was obtained, and this being engraved on, 
was case hardened and used for transferring and printing 
as before stated. This should be kept in view, because 
many persons have supposed that the invention of Perkins 
was merely the substitution of steel in the place of copper for 
engraving upon ; such a substitution of the one metal for the 
other would not be an invention in any fair sense of the 
word. But his method of obtaining soft iron surfaces to 
receive the work, converting these surfaces back into 
steel, and then transferring the engravings to other plates for 
printing, comprised together a series of novel processes which 
confer lasting honour upon the inventor. 
After the transition period, having better hopes of success, 
I recommended Mr. Perkins to come over himself to explain 
his system and aid the artists here in putting it into opera- 
tion. Accordingly in the year 1820 Mr. Perkins came to 
England, and being over sanguine, brought a large staff of 
able artists, mechanics, &c., but he could not bring any 
money to aid in establishing his intended works in London. 
He had assumed that capital could always be obtained in 
England for conducting any safe and profitable schemes. 
Now the matter of proving his to be such was not easy to 
establish with the monied class ; so to me alone, not of that 
class, he had to look for the entire expenses of his mission, 
and this I could only bear for a few months. After some 
time the late Mr. Charles Heath, the eminent engraver, was 
induced to join Mr. Perkins and become a partner in the 
engraving works which were then commenced in Fleet-street, 
and are still continued by their successors. 
Besides the printing on paper, Mr. Perkins’ system of 
transferring has been since very extensively employed for 
calico printing, and in later years we have also seen his pro- 
cess employed to a vast extent in many other departments of 
