Class XVII.] COMPOSITION PRINTING ROLLERS—PRINTING FOR TIIE BLIND.

413

Composition Printing Boilers.

Lord Stanhope entertained the idea that the forms atpress could be inked by sonic better means than by theusual printers’ balls. He had recourse to revolving cylin-ders for that purpose, and tried them covered with skinsdressed expressly in a variety of ways, but without success.Eventually, Mr. Foster,-* an ingenious compositor, adoptedthe composition of the dabbers used in the potteries andmade printers’ balls with it. He laid it upon canvas, andwhen tlius prepared, he produced what was so muchrequired; the composition balls held the ink better, dis-tributed it evenly, and imparted it equally over the form;they were easily kept clean, soft, and pliable, and thusthe/iYsf improvement in inkingby hand was accomplished.In 1811, while engaged upon the invention of the Poly-gonal printing-machine, Mr. Bryan Donkin’s attentionwas directed to the improvement of printing rollers,which, as before stated, had been imperfectly made ofsoft skins; and the idea struck him of casting cylindersof a composition of treacle and glue, similar to that usedby Mr. Foster in his printers’ balls. He accordingly hadsome cast in tin moulds, and applied them to Donkin andBacon ’s printing machine. These rollers were soon intro-duced into general use, but it was found that the compo-sition became too hard and dry to retain its elasticity,and by the advice of Mr. Tyrrel, the celebrated mechanicalengraver, a certain quantity of carbonate of soda wasintroduced into the composition, whereby the elasticitywas rendered more durable. Both Mr. Koenig and Mr.Cowper used these rollers in their printing-machines, withMr. Donkin’s permission, some time after their invention.

At the commencement of 1819, M. Gannal, of Paris ,who had been for a long time occupied in the manufactureof mouth glue, which consists of a mixture of sugar andglue, and Mr. A. Chegaray, overseer in Mr. Smith’sprinting establishment in Paris , made printers’ rollers ofthis composition. They are stated to be more durablethan those made of treacle and glue.

In 1813, when Messrs. Applegath and Cowper’s print*ing-machines came in more general use, the patent inking-tables and composition rollers were introduced to thehand-printers ; but the prejudices of the pressmen againsttheir use were carried to such an extreme, that it appearedalmost impossible to succeed in introducing them. Mr.Hamid, however, whose knowledge of the printing busi-ness rendered him equal to the task, persevered in con-ciliating the pressmen, and demonstrating to them howgreatly the adoption of this beneficial invention wouldbe for their advantage, till after displaying the mostuntiring energy, his efforts were at last crowned withsuccess; and lie had thus the satisfaction of not onlybenefiting the men themselves, but of also rendering anessential service to the printing business. He was re-warded by the large demand created for rollers, everypressman becoming as eager to put aside the use of ballsas he had been to oppose that of composition rollers.The manufactory which he subsequently established, andthe perfection of his inking rollers, proves his soundknowledge of what was required. Messrs. Hamid’smanufactory is now on an immense scale, and suppliesthe greater part of the printers in England with inking-rollers, which possess every requisite quality. Mr.Cowper, who is the inventor of inking-tables and hand-rollers, has never benefited by this valuable acquisitionto the printing business, a fact which cannot but be re-gretted. Messrs. IIakrild (157, p. 284) exhibited in theMachinery Department, Class VI., inking compositionrollers and balls, and were the only exhibitors of this kindof rollers.

M. Lendexmaxn- (Switzerland , 232, p. 1281), of Grub,Canton of Appenzell, Switzerland , was the only other

* It is stated, on the authority of Mr. Harrild, that thecomposition was discovered by a Mr. Edward Dyas, printerand parish-clerk, of Madely, near Wellington, Shropshire ,from the simple circumstance of a glue-pot being upset, andnot having a pelt hall ready, Dyas took a piece of glue in asoft state, and inked a form with it. It is further statedthat he added treacle afterwards to keep it soft. Mr. Har-rihl himself introduced composition balls in 1810.

exhibitor of printers’ rollers, which he called “ Swiss imitation caoutchouc.” The Jury had no means ofpractically ascertaining the merit of these rollers, but itmust be stated that the fissures on their surface left any-thing but a favourable impression.

Printing for the Blind.

The Jury have noticed with pleasure the large numberof exhibitors, from England, France, the Zollverein , andthe United States , of inventions and devices for the in-struction of the blind. It has been estimated that iu theEuropean countries one person out of every 1,200 or1,400 of the entire population is blind, and in Americaone in every 2,000. The great and increasing attentionthat is paid to the intellectual and moral instruction ofthis unfortunate class is one of the distinctive features ofthe progress of our age. A few years ago printing forthe blind was considered only a curious or doubtful expe-riment, but it is now established beyond all question thatbooks are true sources of profit and pleasure to them.Whilst embossed books have recently very rapidly in-creased, it is delightful to notice that the blind readershave multiplied far more rapidly. These circumstanceshave induced the Jury to attempt a brief historical sketchof the origin and progress of printing for the blind, to-gether with the present state of the art.

The invention of printing for the blind marks a newera in the history of literature. The whole credit of thisinvention, so simple yet so marvellous in its results, be-longs to France . It was M. Valentine Haiiy who, in1784, at Paris , produced the first book, printed withletters in relief, and soon after proved to the world thatchildren might easily be taught to read with their fingers.It has been said by his biographer that he took his ideaof embossed typography from seeing that MademoiselleParodis, a blind pianist of Vienna, who visited Paris thatyear, distinguished the keys of her instrument by thesense of touch, and also readily comprehended the mapsin relief which a short time before had been invented byM. Weisembourg of Mannheim . After employing lettersof different forms and sizes, aud experimenting with theblind as to the precise shape of the letter that could bethe most readily distinguished by the touch, he at lengthfixed upon a character differing very slightly from theordinary Roman letter, or perhaps a little approachingitalics. There was the usual mixture of the upper andlower case, the capitals taking more of the script formthan the small letters. Be submitted his first efforts andexperiments to the Academy of Sciences of Paris . Acommittee was appointed to examine them, consisting ofthe Due de la Rochefoucauld, M. Desmarets, M. Demours,and M. Vicq-d’Azir, and their favourable Report on the18th of February, 1785, rendered his success a triumph.Great eclat attended the public announcement of this in-vention. A new Institution was established, called theInstitution Boyale des Jeunes Aveugles, and M. Haiiy wasplaced at the head of it. Among the books which lieembossed were a grammar, a catechism, and small por-tions of the Church service, and also several pieces ofmusic. The printing of the music was inferior. Theabbreviations which he introduced into his grammar, ithas been said, did not afford sufficient advantages tocounterbalance their inconvenience. His principal work,is entitled Expos€ de difffrends moyens verifies par ['ex-perience pour les mettre en e'tat de lire a Vaide dtt tact,d'imprimer des lin es dans lesquels ils puissent prendre desconnaissances de langues, d’histoire, de gcographie , demusique , etc.; d'exeat ter differ ends travaux relatij's auxmetiers. Imprime par les Enjdnts Aveugles. Paris , 1786,4to. This celebrated essay was translated into English byDr. Blacklock, the blind poet, and in 1793 was publishediu London with his poems, in quarto. On the 26th ofDecember 1786, twenty-four of M. Haiiy’s pupils ex-hibited their attainments in reading, writing, arithmetic,music, and geography, before the King and the royalfamily', at Versailles, who were delighted with the won-derful results. For awhile all went on prosperously, butM. Hauy’s friends soon began to give him credit for zealrather than discretion in the management of his Institu-tion, and consequently as the novelty wore away their