All About Inventions and Discoveries
The Romance of modern scientific and mechanical Achievements

i8o All About Inventions to the left to commence the next line. But Pogrin, instead of moving the paper at the end of the line, moved the body of the machine over the writing material. This movement in the two directions, how- ever, was carried out by means of rack and pawl, and alignment was assured by means of guides. The evolution of a means of writing with type received a fresh impetus during the ’forties, but, strange to say, this was not from motives of facilitating commercial correspondence, but was due to activity in two totally different fields. The telegraph was becoming appreciated, and was gradually extending in all directions. The development of this system of communication ultimately brought about the neces- sity to translate the telegraphic symbols or code into Roman characters. Sir Alexander Bain and Sir Charles Wheatstone individually grappled with the issue and conspicuous success was achieved. They undoubtedly contributed material assistance to the evolution of the typewriter, although the influence may not have been so obvious then as it is from the current survey of the problem. In the first telegraph printers a coiled strip of narrow paper was used, the words thus being recorded in a long continuous line, in much the same way as with the modern tape machine. At first only Roman capitals were used, as in the machine designed by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1851 ; but in the succeeding machine, built five years later, both capital and small letters could be printed, and this was the first typewriter in which this end was consummated. The second field comprised the work of those inventors who were striving to ameliorate the condi-