346 
yims. Thus he asserts that wheels made 
according to this method will combine 
strength, durability, and economy. 
ae 
MR. WILLIAM WELLER (CAVENDISH 
sQuARE) for a Method of manufaciur- 
ing Copper Plates for printing Policies 
to secure Persons from loss of Property 
of certain Descriptions. 
Mr. Weller proposes to open an office 
for insuring persons against loss of pro- 
perty by burglaries, highway robberies, 
horse-stealing, private theit, &c. &c. 
The policies tor this purpose he preposes 
to have taken off from highly finished 
copper plates, on which shall be engraved 
in a masterly style the patentee’s own 
Proceedings of Learned Societies. 
[June 1, 
head, his Majesty’s arms, and the figure 
of justice. The advantages expected to 
result from this invention are, 1. An in- 
demnification from loss of property at 
present unproiected. 2. The assistance 
ot the office in detecting and bringing of- 
fenders to justice. S$. Grants to the 
widow, child, or children, upon the 
husband or father being killed in defend- 
ing-any property insured by these poli- 
cies, In ease of attack. 4. Giving ad- 
ditional rewards to persons who shall de- 
tect and apprehend persons robbing, or 
attempting to rob houses, property, or 
persons insured by this office, which, as 
regards houses, will be easily discavered 
by the plate attached to the buildings. 
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
i ae 
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FRANCE. 
AccOUNT of the ORIGIN, HisTORY, and 
PROGRESS, Of PRINTING im STEREO- 
TYPE, commonly called the aRT Of BLOCK- 
PRINTING; read to the NATIONAL IN- 
STITUTE of FRANCE, by a. G. CA- 
MUS. 
T often happens, says the author, that 
in the first stages of a new discovery, 
the terms that are resorted to, in order to 
designate the materials of which it is 
composed, are vague and uncertain. 
Sometimes, a single term ts applied to 
things that are not the same—and some- 
times the terms are multiplied, because 
the things, although the same, are repre- 
sented under different points of view. 
Thus, of late years, the words polytypage, 
stereotypy, monotypy, and homotypy, have 
been introduced, and frequently made 
use of to represent different modes of 
multiplying copies of works, through the 
medium of printing; the word polytypage 
has been applied to means that were not 
the same; and the terms stereotypy, mo- 
notypy, and homotypy, have sometimes 
been used for processes of the same kind, 
and sometimes for those of a different 
kind. In this state of the case; Says tne 
aathor, I’ think it materially requisite, 
. first of all, to define the terms made use 
of—as, likewise, to designate those which 
T-shall retain in this memoir, aud to fix 
the sense of them. 
The noun substantive, which serves as 
the basis, or roét, of all the terms here 
‘quoted, is the Greek word tumos, which 
signifies a sign, mark, or form, as applied 
to printing, and which is capable of be- 
ing multiplied, by striking off impressions 
of it. The adjectives that are added to 
the substantives in composition, are most- 
ly wavs, which signifies multus, or numie- - 
rous, frequent ; sepeoc, solidus, solid, or 
immoveable ; proves, solus, sole, or only; 
and ‘éuos, similis, or like. From these 
words come polytype and polytypage, 
which signifies a mulliplication of the 
type; stereotype, which signifies a solid 
type; monotype, which signifies a soliary 
type; and homotype, which signifies a sz- 
militude of type. lhe words polytype, 
polytypage, designate the methods re- 
sorted to, to multiply the signs of our 
thoughts, of writing, or of designs, whe- 
ther this be performed through the me- 
dium of engraving in copper, or by other 
methods connected with printing proper- 
ly so called. (‘he words “ properly so 
called,” are introduced here, in order to 
take away from the term printing the la- 
titude of signification, which renders it 
comnion both to the action of the-printer 
in copper-plate, and to that of the printer 
in moveable characters. It is to this last 
that we allude, whenever mention is 
made of printing alone, and without the 
addition of the words, “ copper-piate.”) 
The words rice. monotype, and 
homotype, designate the methods of mul- 
tiplying writing, or rather of multipiying 
the editions of books, by processes pecu- 
har to the art of printing. Of these four 
tens, the auther only retains two, with 
their derivatives, polytype, and stereo- — 
type. The first, polytype, or topoly- 
type, he applies to the multiplication of 
pert whiting 
