to substitute alkaline liquor for the acid used for diluting the Indian ink, but with no better success, as, on being tried in one of the government offices, neither of these were found to possess any advantages over ordinary ink. Thus, in consequence of the change in the mode of manufacturing paper, the use of indelible ink was abandoned. It now remained to discover the means of security required by the public and by government itself, in the use of an exterior delible device, which appears to have been hitherto the only practicable plan. Such was, in fact, the object proposed at a meeting convened by M. Lacave Laplagne, when Minister of Finance, who has invariably made a point of endeavoring, as far as in him lay, to meet the views of the Assembly. On this occasion, the results obtained by MM. Zuber, Knecht, and De Bourges, were very well received; but the Commission decided that the desired end was not fully attained, at least as far as they could judge, by the papers presented at the appointed time of meeting. During the interval, however, which elapsed between the despatch sent by the Minister of Finance to the Academy, and the work of MM. Colmont and Cordier, a considerable and important modification of one of the propositions of the Academy had been attempted by M. Grimpé, who did not think it necessary to present himself at the abovementioned meeting. This clever artist, taking up the idea of the Academy, sought to obtain the desired end (viz. the prevention of forgery, either by altering the writing or effacing it altogether,) by means of a delible device, which, extending all over the surface of the paper, and composed of lines too fine to be reproduced by hand, and which being printed with delible ink, should be open to attack by all the agents which affected writing, and when once effaced, could not be restorable by the most skilful hand, or by any printing process. M. Grimpé's first experiments obtained the entire approbation of the Commission; and this was shown to be founded upon sound judgment by the failure of all subsequent attempts. We do not mean to say that no improvement has been made upon M. Grimpé's plan, as it was first proposed by him. On the contrary, taking advantage of all the observations and advice offered him, he has successively improved upon, and sometimes even entirely altered, the details or means of execution; but although by these means a product has been obtained more in accordance with the exigencies of the public and the government, together with the conditions of regular and economical manufacture, the principle of the system remains the same. The principle consists in covering the paper with a microscopic device, printed on both sides with delible ink, by means of a cylinder. The nature of a device, the mode of engraving the cylinder, the nature of the ink and of the paper, have, during the last eleven years, been the object of incessant discussion and study on the part of some of the members of the Commission, the importance of which will be easily understood. Fine lines, capable of being reprinted upon paper, may be traced upon a plane or cylindrical surface, either by an engine-turning lathe, or other suitable means, such as a steel roller having the device upon it in relief, and which by strong pressure may be reproduced in intaglio upon a copper cylinder. The latter process is the one adopted by M. Grimpé. From an experience of eleven years your Commission is confirmed in its previous opinion. After having successively tried various geometric figures as suitable for composing the device, such as concentric circles, hexagons, &c., all opinions were in favor of the microscopic stars, which are upon the papers submitted to the Academy. This device has been found to present insurmountable obstacles to its reproduction by hand. With regard to the absolute identity of these stars to one another, we will merely observe that they are produced by a single steel punch or die, upon which a single star is engraved. This punch, which is very highly tempered, is caused to stamp the stars all over a soft steel cylinder, which is then tempered, and by being made to act with great pressure, upon other untempered cylinders, the device may be produced upon any number of them; these cylinders may then also be tempered, and may be made to reproduce the device upon copper cylinders, from which they may be printed on the paper. In M. Grimpé's first experiments the cylinders intended for printing from were engraved in intaglio, but they are now engraved in relief. This difference, although slight in appearance, is deserving of special notice, as the results produced thereby are very important. Your Commission has always endeavored to maintain as a principle, that a device for a safety-paper must be of such a nature as to be incapable of being imitated, and traced by hand with ordinary ink; so that on any attempt being made to alter the writing, the device must also be altered, which would be apparent from the impossibility of restoring that part of the device which had been destroyed. Now the numerous experiments which have been made upon safety-paper, have established as a favorable condition the following principle, which will no doubt be very important in its applications, viz. that a very fine device cannot be printed with aqueous or ordinary ink unless from an engraving in relief. If a very fine device is required to be printed from intaglio engravings, printing or lithographic ink must be used. Judging from the above experiments, however, and some specimens printed by M. Didot, it is evident that ordinary ink may be used for printing from engravings in relief. As long as M. Grimpé made use of cylinders engraved in intaglio, he found it necessary to employ indelible ink thickened by varnish, and consequently differing, at least in that respect, from common writing ink. Since he has made use of an engraving in relief, he has been able to print with ordinary ink with the greatest facility. The conditions established by the Commission have therefore been complied with. Some members of your Commission, after mature deliberation, thought proper to advise the stamp department to persevere in the employment of paper made by hand, a sheet at a time, and sized with gelatine, and which is always rather uneven on account of the waterlines and there being no division of the pulp. For a long time M. Grimpé raised such formidable objections to this, that our convictions on the subject might have been shaken if they had rested upon a less solid basis. The point has, however, been satisfactorily settled by ex perience, as M. Grimpé has found that he is able to print upon this paper as well as upon machine-made paper. Its uneven surface is not found to be any disadvantage; and, if placing the paper under the cylinder causes any expense which might be avoided by the use of continuous paper, the advantage of continuing the consumption of paper which has stood the test of four centuries, is worthy of some consideration. Thus has the plan been carried out which we had unceasingly and perseveringly advocated. To state it simply, it consisted in covering the two surfaces of the paper (without changing its nature) with a device which could not be imitated by hand or transferred on to stone, and which might be printed with ordinary writing ink. It is the plan proposed by M. Grimpé, and improved upon, in some respects, by the suggestion of others, which has been alone found to possess all these advantages. Lithography had, however, been proposed amongst other improvements, and has contributed very considerably to overcome the difficulties which presented themselves. Three very skilful artists, MM. Knecht, Quinet, and Lemercier, have successively submitted to the government and the Commission some products both very curious and worthy of encouragement. If lithography be employed in the ordinary manner, lithographic ink must be used; but by printing from stones engraved in relief, ordinary ink may be employed, and by this means proofs of a very fine device may be produced upon any kind of paper. But lithography possesses this disadvantage, viz. that there is no mechanical process known by which a device may be reproduced upon any number of stones. This must be effected by engraving or tracing with a dry point upon the reserve with which the stone is covered; and the difficulty of reproducing identically the same design by this means will be apparent. Lithography may, however, be made available for covering, at a very low price, commercial documents, such as checks, railway scrip, &c. with artistic devices of great beauty, and of so complicated a nature as to render their reproduction by hand extremely difficult. Merchants and companies who are in the habit of employing indelible devices, would find great advantage, both in a pecuniary point of view and as regards security, in the employment of lithographic devices printed in indelible ink. The Academy will find no difficulty in appreciating the reserve which prevents our laying before them the numerous experiments by means of which our opinion has been formed. It was, no doubt, our duty to try all the known methods of forgery, and to improve upon them, if possible. This we have done, and have by that means obtained undeniable proof that any stamp or device hitherto known may be imitated. But it is also our duty to keep these dangerous experiments as secret as possible from the public, and make them known only to the government. Such is the motive which prevents us from laying before the Academy the results of our experiments, and which obliges us to confine ourselves to a plain statement of facts, consisting merely of ex parte statements and opinions.-London Repertory of Arts, Sciences and Manufactures, January, 1819. BANK STATISTICS. NEW YORK. Banks of the State and City of New York, 9 December, 1848. Total. RESOURCES. N. Y. City Banks. All others. Loans and disct's to directors and brokers, $37,532,352 $32,201,539 $69,733,891 Total Liabilities, $63,754,801 $57,527,148 $121,251,950 The above statement includes the returns of all the Banks in the State of New York, excepting the "Champlain Bank" and the "New York State Stock Security Bank." There are now one hundred and seventy-nine Banks and two Branches in operation. For further information respecting the Banks of N. Y., refer to pp. 185, 383, 481, 526. |