Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-01-06
WORKERS IN MINIATURE.
Curious Microscopic Fcnts Achieved
by Ingenious Men-Iliad in
Nutshell.

From the London Standard
Perhaps the most prevalent mania of men
gifted with mechanical ingenuity takes the
shape of accomplishing, or attempting to
accomplish, in miniature. the mightiest
feats of engineering that human hands
have ever set up. The enthusiast in min
iature regards the Forth bridge. for exam
pie. not as a utlitarian masterpiece. but as
a model to be followed and copied in all
the materials supplied by a threepenny bit,
and the $50 feet of Eiffel tower neither fills
his breast with awe nor horror. but is re-
garded as choice subject to be construct
ed In miniature out of bent pin and the
shell of walnut.
OF the medieval mechanicians John Null
Ter, better known in the trade as Regio-
montanus, which one must admit sounds
well for one of his craft, who lived in the
fifteenth century. was without doubt the
Maskelyne and Cook of the period. or at all
events he had as biographer d writer of
greater imagination than the other less
fortunate senii of that era. Peter Ramus.
John a MuIler IN with fasboning mot oi,s node5
eagle, which. on the occasion of the En-
peror Maximilian visiting Nuremberg. flew
out to meet him. saluted him in due form
however that may have heen-and then
turned round and accompanied the process
sion to the city gates. but further asserts
that the same individual turned out an
iron fly
Which. having flown perfect roundabout.
WITH weary wings return'd unto her master"
We are inclined to think. all things con-
sldered, that Peter Ramus had the makings
| of a very fine creator of exciting fiction
| in him. and that it was sad pity he al
| lowed his gift to be wasted in compiling u
biography of a 100 years deceased autom-
alta artificer, in place of forestalling the
| friend of our youth, NJ. Jules Verne.
| The cherrystone has been a tavorite sub
Ject for the worker in miniature, since
| Hadrianus Junius at Mechlin "a cher
rystone cut into the form of Il basket in
| which was fourteen pairs of dice distinct
| the spots and numbers of which were cas-
| lily discerned with a good eye" A museum
| in Massachusetts has among its other pos
sessions cherrrytone containing a dozen
| silver spoons. As the stone is of the or
dinary size, the spoons are so small that
| their shape can only be admired by the
| aid of a microscope. Other remarkable
| cherrystones are the ones carved all over
| with 124 heads, mostly of popes and poten-
| tates. and the one fashioned by topmaker
at N1remburg' which, which contains plan of OF
Messiah" of Klopstock-indeed mutum in
parvo.
a tiny vessel has been made of late
| years by an Italian jeweler. who came into
possession of {; pearl that nature had
caused to take upon itself the shape and
contour of a boat. a sail of beaten gold
| studded with diamonds. binnace light
| of ruby and emerald rudder of ivory stand
complete the structure. which weighs less
than an ounce all told. We recently saw
| the world is one of an upright pattern,
made OF silver and gold and resting on a
ss.Gent gold piece: The diameter OF the
| stroke one-thirty-second of an inch. weight
| one-eighth of a grain and the bore of cyl
| inder .3125 of square inch. The engine can
| be worked either by steam or compressed
| air, and-oh. shade of Peter Ramus!-the
! balance wheel, of One-third of an inch di-
ameter is said to make 1,76O revolutions
| per minute.
| In 1876 a knife was made at Messrs Ira
Is & Sons Manchester. containing three
blades. buttonhook. saw. punch: screw
two phlemens. a species of lancet picker
| and two more lancets with ring at the
head. The knife. we learn. was only eleven
sixteenths of an inch long and weighed one
| pennyweight and fourteen grains. AT this
end of the century Sheffield can boast of a
dozen pairs Of shears each SO minute that
| grain. If report speaks true.
| OF examples Of microscope writing there
is no end; but one of the most famous is
| had once seen Homers Iliad in nutshell
In order to prove the truth of this. a
French writer named Huet experimental
tutor he was in 1870. He first showed that
a piece of sheepskin. ten by eight inches
can be folded to, tit the shell of a walnut
| and then proceeded to prove that he could
get $50 stanzas of thirty verses to a stanza
| on each side of the paper. or 800 verses
on each side. OF the paintings in minia-
| ture. Carel van Mander, the sixteenth cen
| tury painter and historian. quotes the
| landscape painted by Lucas Van Here's
wife. This work of art represented a mill
| with sails bent, the miller appearing as ii
mounting the stairs loaded with a sack;
| a cart and horse We're seen upon the ter
| race upon which the mill was fixed, and
| on the road several peasants were dis
| cerned. The whole was perfectly distinct
| and accurately finished. and yet so minute
| that 1t could be covered with one grain OF
| corn. Surely. that most microscopic art
| ist. NJ. Jan van Beers. must be descended
from the fair painter of that extraordinary
/ Of