History of the Typewriter

—173 — The machine can be used equally as well to write in books as on flat surfaces, and also for letters. It has a small number of parts, very few springs, and whilst con- structed on the most improved mechanical principles, is exceedingly simple in every way .J '”) Stenographic Machines. In the view of 1 great many people, a time will come sooner or later, when pen or pencil written shorthand will be entirely replaced by mechanical stenography. We do not take any sides in this controversy, as, for one thing, the whole subject is far too wide to permit of its being dis- cussed in the following pages. But the following particulars of a few of the more notable applications of the principle of the writing machine to stenographic purposes, will, perhaps, enable the reader to form a fair idea of the present position of this branch of the subject. Gonod, in 1827, having observed the facility and dexterity attained by pianists in the execution of the most difficult music, and the fact that a great number of keys could be found and depressed in a limited time, devised a machine upon the general principles of the piano. He arranged a keyboard, capable of being operated according to a definite scheme, in order to spell the words. The signs he used were two points, one being round and the other lozenge-shape, and. by the combination of tliess signs was able to construct a complete alphabet. In 1830, an Italian artist named Galli devised a mechani- cal tachygrapher, the keys of which corresponded to the letters of the alphabet, and were arranged in two concentric circles. The keys apparently struck down towards the paper, after the plan of the Hansen Schreibkugel. The paper was coiled on 3. drum, which apparently revolved, between the letters. As the clia,ra.cters wer© 01d.1na.ry roman letters, transcription was thought to be unnecessary. In 1869, M. Bryois devised a keyboard machine, which was intended to execute its work in such a way that the shorthand it produced should be readable all over the world, and a little later, M. Danel-Duplan published a. work explaining a system of Stenotype, which however, did not advance the art in any way. In 1883, a civil engineer of Leipzig, named Amadeo Gentilli, invented a little insturment for the purpose of reproducing the sounds of speech. He called it the Glosso- graphe.