History of the Typewriter

—280— The inventor was recently stated to have been working on another machine, the model of which was likely to be ready for inspection at an early date. Mackness. This machine was announced in 1895, and was to be issued from Dundee. It is described as a shift-key machine, and the announcement states that it embodies several important points which are not embodied in any other machine so far on the market. The inventor is Mr. C. F. Mackness, son of Dr. Mackness, of Broughty Ferry. It does not appear, however, that the Mackness ever took actual shape. Matrix Forming Machines. A number of patents have been secured covering methods whereby the impression made by the type can be converted into a matrix from which a stereotype block for printing can be formed. It is clear that if a thin sheet of pliable metal, say pewter, backed by blotting paper, be fed into the machine, and the ribbon removed, the sharp face of the type will form indentations corresponding to the keys struck. This indented sheet of metal may then be treated in either of two ways. First, the indentations may be filled up by means of very fine plaster of Paris so as to make them firm enough to withstand pressure during the act of printing, and the sheet then mounted type high and used with other type or blocks in the forme ; or, secondly, a proper stereotype might be made from the metal in the usual way. The former of these processes is the basis of a series of patents by Messrs. Hetherton & Cordeaux, and is developed in the form of a duplicating apparatus. The work turned out by this process is exceedingly clear and sharp, but the printing operation is very slow and it has not been found practicable, owing to inking difficulties, to do good work of a larger size than octavo. In other patents, machines have been made to perforate the paper used as stencil into a series of dotted holes, and photography has then been called in to assist in converting a sensitized metal plate into a stereo by the action of light passing through the openings. Electricity has been requisitioned to increase the force of the blow and either new machines devised for the purpose, or as (according to La Plume Stenographique) was the case with an invention by M. Jules Buse, an ordinary type- writer has been converted. M. Buse used a Williams. He attached one of the poles of the battery to the keyboard, the other to the platen. Typing on to a sheet of flexible