Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1893-03-06

street, Portland. Written By Fermst. M
Paris, 1852" The circle within which
this was inscribed was much smaller than
the head of an ordinary r., aad IL q nee
die was placed between the lens of Q MI
croscope and the writing, the latter was
completely ooncsaled-
At the Dusseldorf exhibition a few
years ago . gentleman showed q postal
card upon which the whole Of the frst
three books Of the Odyssey were written,
and the remaining space was flled With q
transcript of q long debate which had
taken place In the German parliament
short time before, the whole card contain
ing thirty three thousand words. In the
spring of 1882 Hungarian Jew sent 10 a
vienna paper Q grain Of wheat on which
he had written three hundred and nine
words taken from Sissot's book on Vienna.
The reader viii naturally inquire some
what incredulously, "How Is such work
socomplishedfn Although not acquainted
with the details, DR.. Lsrdner, In his cole
brated Museum of Ssience,' 1856, de-
scribes the principle of execution as fol
low: "Tt may be stated generally to con-
sist of q mechanism by which the point of
the grsver or style is guided by q system
of levers which are capable of imparting
to It three motions In right lines, which
are reoiprocally perpendiculsr, two of
them being parallel, and the third at right
angles to the surface on which the chsrac-
ters or designs are written or engraved.
The combination of the motions In the d.
rection of the axis, parallel to the surface
on which the characters are engraved or
written, determines the form of the char
soters, and the motion In the direction of
the axis at right angles to that surfase de-
tsrmines the depth of the incision, IL IL be
engraving, or the thickness of the stroke,
| If II be writing"
1t must not, however, be supposed that
this species of writing is confined to mod
| ern times. Lsyard, in his History of MIN
| eveh,' mentions that the national records
of the Assyrian empire were written upon
bricks in characters 30 minute as to be
| SCARCELY lesible without the aid of the mi
| oroscope, and that, in fact, a variety of
this instrument was found among the eI-
| cavations.
So much for dainty penmanship. That
minute mechanical construction can lay
| claim also to considerable antiquity is evil
| denced by the works of Pliny and Adrian,
who relate that Myrmecides constructed
out of ivory ship with all her appurte-
| nsnces, and chariot with four wheels and
/ four horses, both of go email dimensions
that bee could hide either of them with
its wings. Though this tale appears some
| what exaggerated, some crsdence should
certainly be given for 1t, for In the reign
of Queen Elizabeth we have well-authentI-
Gated proof Of the existence of q still more
wonderful work. In 1878, Mark Scaliot,
i a London locksmith, manufactured q lock
consisting of eleven different pieces of
steel, iron and brass, which, together with
| the key belonging to IL, weighed only one
| grain The same artist also constructed Q
chain of gold, containing forty-three links,
i which he fastened to the lock and key,
and upon these being attached to the neck
of q flea, the Insect was able to draw them
| with ease.
Hadianus Junius eaW at Mechlin, In Bra
bsnt, a cherry stone carved into the form
| of q basket, in which were fourteen pairs
of dice, the spots on the latter being visi-
BILE to the naked eye. A cherry-stone was
shown at Florence, for many years, carved
by the Italian sculptor, Rossi, and con-
tanning q glory of sixty sSints.
But q still more marvellous curiosity was
q set of sixteen hundred ivory dishes
| which were said to have been purchased
i by one Shsd, of Mitelbrsch, from the
i maker, Oswald Northingerus, and exhibit
ed before Pope Paul v. These dainty
| turnings, though perfect In every respect,
were scarcely visible to the naked eye, and
could be easily enclosed In g casket the
size Of @ peppercorn- A Jesuit father,
| terrarius, made twenty-five wooden can
non, capable of being packed away in the
same space.
In 1884, on the birthday of King George
/ I'LL, q matchmaker of London, named
| Arnold, presented himself before the king
| to exhibit curious re re5estipg- watch of his
manufacture. His majesty, as well as the
mobiles of the court, greatly admired his
minute workmanship, land extraordinary
II must indeed be considered" rays the
chronicler, "when 1t is known that this re-
peating-watch was in diameter somewhat
less than o silver twopence, that 1t oon-
tanned one hundred aud twenty distinct
parts, and that altogether it weighed less
than six pennyweightsi'
But do not imagine that modern work
men are not equally skiltul Not very long
ago @ London newspaper announced that q
ieweler of Turin hsd made q tug boat
formed of G single pesTl. The sail is Of
beaten gold studded with diamonds, and
the binnscle light at the PROV is perfe ct
ruby. An emerald serves as its rudder,
and the stand upon which il lie mounted is
a slab of whitest ivory. The entire weight
of this marvellous specimen Of jewelers.
craft Is less than half an ounce, but the
maker values 1t s. FIVE Thousand dollars.