Part 92

Manna, in our version of the Bible, is a term applied to the food that God gave the Israelites in the wilderness. But what we now call manna, is a saccharine substance that exudes from the bark of a species of ash-tree found in the southern parts of Europe, and especially in Sicily and Calabria. At the warmest season, the tree most abounds in sap, and, accordingly, in August, the people make incisions into the bark. These are two inches long horizontally, and half an inch in depth. On incision, the manna immediately begins to flow, at first in the form of water, but it gradually becomes thicker. A leaf is inserted into the incision, which conducts the juice into a vessel placed at the foot of the tree. The liquor does not harden till it has remained some time. It has an unpleasant taste, but after the watery parts have evaporated, it is sweeter, but slightly nauseous. Manna is used in medicine as a mild aperient. It differs remarkably from common sugar, in not being susceptible of what is called vinous fermentation; so that if mixed with common sugar and yeast, and subjected to the process of fermentation, while the sugar is converted into alcohol, the manna remains unaltered in the liquor.

[Illustration: Continental Money]

CONTINENTAL MONEY.

One of the curiosities, if not wonders of the world, is afforded in the Continental money, or Continental bills, issued by congress in the early stages of the Revolutionary struggle, a specimen of which may be seen in the cut. These bills were of various denominations, and were issued by thousands on thousands. But from the very great extent of their issue, and the fact that the government could not redeem them in silver and gold, they rapidly depreciated in value, till at last they became almost worthless. As they are now almost never seen, except it be in some museum, or collection of old curiosities, the _fac-simile_ given above can not fail to be of interest.

THE MILK-TREE.

That singular production of nature called the _masseranduba_, or milk-tree, is found in the tropical regions of South America, and is thus described by Wallace, in his “Travels on the Amazon.” Speaking of the various interesting objects of the journey he was making, he says: “What most interested us, however, were several large logs of the _masseranduba_, or milk-tree. On our way through the forest, we had seen some trunks much notched by persons who had been extracting the milk. It is one of the noblest trees of the forest, rising with a straight stem to an enormous hight. The timber is very hard, fine-grained, and durable, and is valuable for works which are much exposed to the weather. The fruit is eatable and very good, the size of a small apple, and full of a rich and very juicy pulp. But strangest of all is the vegetable milk, which exudes in abundance when the bark is cut. It has about the consistence of thick cream, and, but for a very slight peculiar taste, could scarcely be distinguished from the genuine product of the cow. Mr. Leavens ordered a man to tap some logs that had lain nearly a month in the yard. He cut several notches in the bark with an ax, and in a minute the rich sap was running out in great quantities. It was collected in a basin, diluted with water, strained, and brought up at tea-time, and at breakfast next morning. The peculiar flavor of the milk seemed rather to improve the quality of the tea, and gave it as good a color as rich cream. In coffee it is equally good. Mr. Leavens informed us that he had made a custard of it, and that, though it had a curious dark color, it was very well tasted. The milk is used for glue, and is said to be as durable as that made use of by carpenters. As a specimen of its capabilities in this line, Mr. Leavens showed us a violin he had made, the belly-board of which, formed of two pieces, he had glued together with it applied fresh from the tree, without any preparation. It had been done two years. The instrument had been in constant use; and the joint was now perfectly good and sound throughout its whole length. As the milk hardens by exposure to air, it becomes a very tough, slightly elastic substance, much resembling gutta percha; but not having the property of being softened by hot water, it is not likely to become so extensively useful as that article.”

THE TELEGRAPH.

Tho old-fashioned telegraph, which was in common use before the wonderful invention of the electro-magnetic telegraph by Morse, was an arrangement for the communication of intelligence by signals, or movements, previously agreed upon; which signals represented letters, words, or ideas, which could thus be transmitted from one station to another, as far as the signals could be seen. It was first devised in France, about 1793 or 1794, and soon became extensively adopted and used in other nations. A good idea of its appearance may be formed from the cut below. It consisted of a mast, or frame, in connection with shutters, or sliding-boards, worked by ropes pulled like bell-ropes, and exhibiting, in all, sixty-three signals; by which were represented the nine digits, the letters of the alphabet, and several generic words: and, sometimes, to these were added other signals, expressive of entire phrases. The observers at these telegraphs were not expected to keep their eye constantly at the glass, but to look only every five minutes for the signal to make ready. The telescopes used for observation, were commonly what are called Dolland’s achromatics, which possess no recommendation but their enlarged field, and their freedom from prismatic colors in that field; points of no consequence in looking through a fixed glass at a fixed and circumscribed object. Sometimes a common and powerful spy-glass was found sufficient. In the use of this kind of telegraph, dead flats or levels were found to be universally unfavorable; and generally stations were found to be useless nearly in the proportion of the miles of dead flat looked over. On the contrary, stations between hill and hill, looking across a valley, or a series of valleys, were found to be mostly clear; and water surfaces were found to produce fewer obscure days than land in any situation. The period least favorable of the same day was an hour or two before and after the sun’s passage of the meridian, particularly on dead levels, where the play of the sun’s rays on the rising exhalations, renders distant vision exceedingly obscure. The tranquillity of the morning and evening were ascertained to be the most favorable hours for observation.

[Illustration: THE SIGNAL TELEGRAPH.]

The old line of this kind of telegraph between London and Portsmouth, had twelve stations; and another chain from London to Yarmouth, had nineteen stations. The distances of the stations averaged about eight miles, yet some of them extended to twelve or fourteen; and the lines were often increased by circuits, for want of commanding hights. After about twenty years’ experience, they found they could calculate on about two hundred days on which signals could be transmitted throughout the day; about sixty others on which they could pass only part of the day, or at particular stations; and about one hundred days in which few of the stations were visible to each other. A message from London to Portsmouth, was usually transmitted in about fifteen minutes; but, by an experiment tried for the purpose, a single signal has been transmitted to Plymouth and back again in _three minutes_, which, by the telegraph route, is at least five hundred miles. In this instance, however, notice had been given to make ready, and every captain was at his post to receive and return the signals. The progress was at the rate of one hundred and seventy miles in a minute, or three miles a second, or three seconds at each station; a rapidity truly wonderful for so imperfect an apparatus! And yet, clumsy and slow-moving as all this now seems to us, it was the best telegraph known before the invention of Morse. In contrast to it, let us turn to the latter.

THE ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.

The invention of this wonderful instrument, it is now universally admitted, is due to Professor S. F. B. Morse, of whom some one has well said, that “_if Franklin brought the lightning from heaven, Morse both tamed it, and taught it the English language_.” So early as 1822, Mr. Morse described his invention to reliable witnesses; and having obtained an appropriation from Congress, for the purpose of testing it on an extended scale, he set up the wires from Washington to Baltimore, a distance of about forty miles, and thus established the first electro-magnetic telegraph ever known, and the parent of that wonderful system that now threads every continent, conveying messages literally on the lightning’s wing. A view of the instrument used for transmitting messages, is given in the cut below. By this instrument connecting with the wires, messages are either written or printed; by the system of House, in actual letters, and by the systems of Morse and Bain, in a cipher.

[Illustration: ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.]

The telegraphic wires having been extended throughout the United States and the continent of Europe, it is now proposed to carry them _under the Atlantic_, and so connect America and Europe. The plan now is, to carry the cable from the northernmost point of the Highlands of Scotland to Iceland, by way of the Orkney, Shetland and Ferroe islands; to lay it from Iceland across to the nearest point in Greenland, thence down the coast to Cape Farewell, where the cable would again take to the water, span Davis’s straits, and then go across Labrador and Upper Canada to Quebec. Here it would lock in with the North American meshwork of wires, which hold themselves out like an open hand for the European grasp. This plan seems quite feasible, for in no part of the journey would the cable require to be more than nine hundred miles long; and as it seems pretty certain that a sand-bank extends, with good soundings, all the way to Cape Farewell, there would be little difficulty in mooring the cable to a level and soft bottom.

Among the most startling wonders in connection with electricity and the telegraph, is the announcement that M. Bonelli, of Turin, has invented a new electric telegraph, by which trains _in motion_ on a railway are enabled to communicate with each other at all rates of velocity, and, at the same time, with the telegraphic stations on the line; while the latter are, at the same time, able to communicate with the trains. It is added, that M. Bonelli is in possession of a system of telegraphic communication by which wires are entirely dispensed with.

THE ART OF PRINTING.

From the telegraph, to printing, and the printing-press, is but a step; and one that is naturally suggested. The origin of printing is involved in mystery. Some think it was practiced as far back as the building of Babylon. The Romans, we know, had metal stamps with which they marked words and names on their various articles; but having no paper, they could hardly be said to _print_. Printing from engraved blocks of wood, was practiced by the Chinese nearly fifty years before the Christian era. But the credit of first introducing movable types, is commonly attributed to John Fust, or Faust, of Mentz, who is represented, in the cut on the next page, as looking, with his associates, at the first proof taken from movable types. This was supposed to be not far from the year 1450. Between 1450 and 1455, the celebrated “Mentz Bible” appeared, without date; and this was the occasion of the art being discovered by the public. Next followed the “Psalter,” in 1457; and from this time, printing rapidly spread throughout Europe. William Caxton was the first to introduce printing into England, about 1474. The first book in which Greek types appear, was printed in 1465; and the first using the Roman character, in 1467.

[Illustration: FAUST TAKING FIRST PROOF FROM MOVABLE TYPES.]

Printing-presses were gradually improved. The old-fashioned press was made of wood, with an iron screw that had a bar fitted in it; and to the lower end of this screw was attached, horizontally, a flat piece of wood, called the _platen_, which was brought down by means of the screw, and pressed the paper on the face of the types, and thus the impression was given. This kind of presses, however, soon gave place to those made of iron. The Stanhope press was a great improvement on anything that had gone before it; and the Caledonian press, invented by George Clymer, an American, was a great improvement, in many respects, on the latter. The press represented in the cut on the following page, on which Franklin printed, was one of these old-fashioned hand-presses, on which it would have been a hard day’s work to print twenty-five hundred impressions, or twelve hundred and fifty sheets on both sides, in a day. After a time, a plan was devised of obtaining impressions from types by means of cylinders; and in 1804, the idea was started, of applying steam-power to printing-presses. It was not, however, till after years of experiments, and an immense outlay of capital, that the invention was brought to a successful issue, so as to be advantageously applied in practice. When, however, in 1814, the machine was completed, it was adopted in the office of the London Times newspaper, and was thus spoken of in the papers of the day.

[Illustration: FRANKLIN’S PRINTING-PRESS.]

“A new printing-press, or printing-engine, has recently excited the attention of the typographical world. It is wrought by the power of steam, and, with the aid of three boys, perfects nearly a thousand sheets per hour. A common press, worked by two men, takes off but two hundred and fifty impressions on one side, and requires eight hours to _perfect_ a thousand sheets. Hence, three boys in one hour are enabled, by this new application of the power of steam, to perform the labor of two men for eight hours. Such are the present capabilities of this engine: but as there is no limit to its required powers, and the size of the _form_ is no obstacle to its perfect performance, it is proposed to take impressions on double-demy, in which case three boys will, in one hour, perform the labor of thirty-two men. This engine is now at work at the printing-office of Bensley & Sons, near Fleet street, and another on a similar (but less perfect) construction, has for some time past been employed on a morning newspaper. In its general analogy, this press is not unlike the rolling-press of copper-plate printers. The forms being fixed on the _carriage_, are drawn under a cylinder, on which the sheet being laid, and the ink distributed by an arrangement of rollers, the impression is taken on one side. The sheet is then conveyed off by bands to a second cylinder, around which it is conveyed on the _second form_, and the _reiteration_ is produced in _perfect register_, without the aid of _points_. All the manual labor is performed by a boy, who lays the sheet of paper on the first cylinder, by one who takes it off from the second cylinder, and by a third, who lays the sheets even on the _bank_. As a further instance of economy in the materials, we may mention, that the waste steam from the copper is carried in tubes round the entire suit of offices, with a view to warm them.”

Passing on, over various improvements, we come, last of all, to what thus far is the perfection of all printing-machines, _viz._, _Hoe’s eight-cylinder power-press_, a view of which is given in the cut on the following page. This immense printing-machine is thirty-three feet long, fourteen feet and eight inches high, and six feet wide. It has one large central cylinder on which the type is secured, and eight smaller cylinders arranged around it, at convenient distances. Eight persons supply the eight small cylinders with the sheets, and at each revolution of the large cylinder, eight impressions are given off, the sheets being delivered in neat order by the machine itself. The limit to the speed is in the ability of the eight persons to supply the sheets. At the rate of twenty-five hundred sheets to each, the press would give off the unparalleled number of twenty thousand printed impressions per hour. The press is thus far used exclusively for newspaper and similar printing. What it may next be applied to, or what will be the next stride in the rapidity and perfection of printing, only the future can reveal.

[Illustration: HOE’S EIGHT-CYLINDER POWER-PRESS.]

Before leaving the subject of printing, it may not be uninteresting to mention, that a _composing_, or type-setting machine, is said to have been recently invented, in Denmark. One who has seen it in operation, says: “It is now in actual operation in the office of the Fædrelandet. Instead of the usual cases and composing-sticks, and the compositor standing at his work, we see a person sitting before a machine with keys like a piano, which he plays on incessantly, and every touch on the tangent is followed by a click; the letter already in its place in the long mahogany channel prepared for it. The whole is excessively ingenious. In fact it is fairy work. The most wonderful part is that it distributes the already used types at the same time that it sets the new page, and with an exactness perfectly sure. No mistake can ever occur. The compositor, by this machine, does four times as much work as another workman; but as he requires an assistant to line and page the set type, this brings it to twice the amount of type set. The whole is so clean and pleasant, that it will probably soon be a favorite employment for women. The machine occupies a very small space, not more than a large chair, and is beautifully made of hard woods, brass and steel. Its success is now beyond all doubt. The proprietors of the Fædrelandet are so gratified by the one they now have, that they have ordered another. The price is twenty-four hundred Danish dollars. It will last, apparently, for a century or two without repair. Mr. Sorenson, the inventor, himself a compositor all his life, kindly shows the machine to any visitor. Of course, a compositor can not set with this machine at once; it will take a short time, a few days, for him to become familiar with the details, but he is then a gentleman compared to his old comrades.”

THE INDIA-RUBBER TREE.

India-rubber, called, also, _caoutchouc_, is produced from several different trees, all of them of the _ficus_, or fig species. The _ficus elasticus_ is the tree from which it is chiefly obtained. This is a native both of India and of South America; and its general appearance may be seen in the cut below. When the bark is cut or broken, it gives forth a milky liquid, which, being exposed to the air, produces the gum elastic which is so much in use among us. It is now about a hundred years since it was first introduced into Europe. For a long time it was only used to erase the marks of lead-pencils. The natives of South America had, however, long employed it, as we do now, for boots and shoes. They also smear the inside of baskets with it, thus providing a tough and tight lining. In the vicinity of Quito, they make it into a kind of cloth. Its multiplied uses in the United States and Europe, are familiar to every reader. In a volume lately published in New York, entitled “Scenes and Adventures on the Banks of the Amazon,” is found the following account of this singular and most useful tree.

[Illustration: THE INDIA-RUBBER TREE.]

“A number of blacks, bearing long poles on their shoulders, thickly strung with India-rubber shoes, also attracted our attention. These are for the most part manufactured in the interior, and are brought down the river for sale by the natives. It has been estimated that at least two hundred and fifty thousand pairs of shoes are annually exported from the province, and the number is constantly increasing. A few words here respecting the tree itself, and the manufacture of the shoes, may not be out of place. The tree is quite peculiar in its appearance, and sometimes reaches the hight of eighty and even a hundred feet. The trunk is perfectly round, rather smooth, and protected by a bark of a light color. The leaves grow in clusters of three together, are thin, and of an ovate form, and are from ten to fifteen inches in length. The center leaf of the cluster is always the longest. This remarkable tree bears a curious fruit of the size of a peach, which, although not very palatable, is eagerly sought after by different animals. It is separated into three lobes, which contain each a small black nut. The trees are tapped in the same manner that the New Englanders tap maple-trees; the trunk having been perforated, a yellowish liquid, resembling cream, flows out, which is caught in small clay cups fastened to the tree. When these become full, their contents are emptied into large earthen jars, in which the liquid is kept until desired for use. The operation of making the shoes is as simple as it is interesting. Imagine yourself in one of the seringa groves of Brazil. Around you are a number of good-looking natives of low stature and olive complexions. One is stirring, with a long wooden stick, the contents of a caldron, placed over a pile of blazing embers. This is the liquid as it was taken from the rubber tree. Into this a wooden ‘last,’ covered with clay, and having a handle, is plunged. A coating of the liquid remains. Another native then takes the ‘last,’ and holds it in the smoke arising from the ignition of a species of palm fruit, for the purpose of causing the glutinous substance to assume a dark color. The ‘last’ is then plunged again into the caldron, and this process is repeated as in dipping candles, until the coating is of the required thickness. You will moreover notice a number of Indian girls engaged in making various impressions, such as flowers, &c., upon the soft surface of the rubber, by means of their thumb-nails, which are especially pared and cultivated for that purpose. After this final operation, the shoes are placed in the sun to harden, and large numbers of them may be seen laid out on mats in exposed situations. The aboriginal name of the rubber is _cahchu_, from which the formidable word of _caoutchouc_ is derived.”

[Illustration: THE OLD ROUND TOWER AT NEWPORT.]

THE ROUND TOWER AT NEWPORT.