or FOUNDRY, the art of casting all sorts of metals into different forms. It likewise signifies the workhouse or smelting hut wherein these operations are performed.

FOUNDRY of Small Works, or casting in Sand. The sand used for casting small works is at first of a pretty soft, yellowish, and clammy nature; but it being necessary to throw charcoal dust in the mould, it at length becomes of a quite black colour. This sand is worked over and over, on a board, with a roller, and a sort of knife; being placed over a trough to receive it, after it is by these means sufficiently prepared.

This done, they take a wooden board of a length and breadth proportional to the things to be cast, and putting a ledge round it they fill it with sand, a little moistened, Feudery moistened, to make it duly cohere. Then they take either wood or metal models of what they intend to cast, and apply them so to the mould, and press them into the sand, as to leave their impression there. Along the middle of the mould is laid half a small brass cylinder, as the chief canal for the metal to run through, when melted, into the models or patterns; and from this chief canal are placed several others, which extend to each model or pattern placed in the frame. After this frame is finished, they take out the patterns, by first loosening them all round, that the sand may not give way.

Then they proceed to work the other half of the mould with the same patterns in just such another frame; only that it has pins, which, entering into holes that correspond to it in the other, make the two cavities of the pattern fall exactly on each other.

The frame, thus moulded, is carried to the melter; who, after extending the chief canal of the counterpart, and adding the cross canals to the several models in both, and strewing mill dust over them, dries them in a kind of oven for that purpose.

Both parts of the mould being dry, they are joined together by means of the pins; and to prevent them giving way, by reason of the melted metal passing through the chief cylindrical canal, they are screwed or wedged up like a kind of press.

While the moulds are thus preparing, the metal is fused in a crucible of a size proportionate to the quantity of metal intended to be cast.

When the moulds are coolish, the frames are unscrewed or unwedged, and the cast work taken out of the sand, which sand is worked over again for other casting.

**Foundery of Statues.** The casting of statues depends on the due preparation of the pit, the core, the wax, the outer mould, the inferior furnace to melt off the wax, and the upper to fuse the metal. The pit is a hole dug in a dry place something deeper than the intended figure, and made according to the prominence of certain parts thereof. The inside of the pit is commonly lined with stone or brick; or when the figure is very large, they sometimes work on the ground, and raise a proper fence to resist the impulsion of the melted metal.

The inner mould, or core, is a rude mass to which is given the intended attitude and contours. It is raised on an iron grate, strong enough to sustain it, and is strengthened within by several bars of iron. It is generally made either of potters clay, mixed with hair and horse dung; or of plaster of Paris mixed with brick dust. The use of the core is to support the wax, the shell, and lessen the weight of the metal. The iron bars and the core are taken out of the brass figure through an aperture left in it for that purpose, which is soldered up afterwards. It is necessary to leave some of the iron bars of the core, that contribute to the steadiness of the projecting part, within the brass figure.

The wax is a representation of the intended statue. If it be a piece of sculpture, the wax should be all of the sculptor's own hand, who usually forms it on the core: Though it may be wrought separately in cavities, moulded on a model, and afterwards arranged on the ribs of iron over the grate; filling the vacant space in the middle with liquid platter and brick dust, whereby the inner core is proportioned as the sculptor carries on the wax.

When the wax, which is the intended thickness of the metal, is finished, they fill small waxen tubes perpendicular to it from top to bottom, to serve both as canals for the conveyance of the metal to all parts of the work; and as vent holes, to give passage to the air, which would otherwise occasion great disorder when the hot metal came to encompass it.

The work being brought thus far, must be covered with its shell, which is a kind of crust laid over the wax, and which being of a soft matter, easily receives the impression of every part, which is afterwards communicated to the metal upon its taking the place of the wax, between the shell and the mould. The matter of this outer mould is varied according as different layers are applied. The first is generally a composition of clay, and old white crucibles well ground and sifted, and mixed up with water to the consistence of a colour fit for painting: accordingly they apply it with a pencil, laying it seven or eight times over, and letting it dry between whiles. For the second impression they add horse dung and natural earth to the former composition. The third impression is only horse dung and earth. Lastly, The shell is finished by laying on several more impressions of this last matter, made very thick with the hand.

The shell, thus finished, is secured by several iron girdles, bound round it, at about half a foot distance from each other, and fastened at the bottom to the grate under the statue, and at top to a circle of iron where they all terminate.

If the statue be so big that it would not be easy to move the moulds with safety, they must be wrought on the spot where it is to be cast. This is performed two ways: in the first, a square hole is dug underground, much bigger than the mould to be made therein, and its inside lined with walls of freestone or brick. At the bottom is made a hole of the same materials, with a kind of furnace, having its aperture outwards: in this is a fire made to dry the mould, and afterwards melt the wax. Over this furnace is placed the grate, and upon this the mould, &c., formed as above. Lastly, At one of the edges of the square pit, is made another large furnace to melt the metal. In the other way, it is sufficient to work the mould above ground, but with the like precaution of a furnace and grate underneath. When finished, four walls are to be run around it, and by the side thereof a muffle made for a melting furnace. For the rest, the method is the same in both. The mould being finished, and enclosed as described, whether underground or above it, a moderate fire is lighted in the furnace under it, and the whole covered with planks, that the wax may melt gently down, and run out at pipes contrived for that purpose, at the foot of the mould, which are afterwards exactly closed with earth, so soon as the wax is carried off. This done, the hole is filled up with bricks thrown in at random, and the fire in the furnace augmented, till such time as both the bricks and mould become red hot. After this, the fire being extinguished, and everything cold again, Foundery, they take out the bricks, and fill up their place with earth moistened, and a little beaten to the top of the mould, in order to make it the more firm and steady. These preparatory measures being duly taken, there remains nothing but to melt the metal, and run it into the mould. This is the office of the furnace above described, which is commonly made in the form of an oven with three apertures, one to put in the wood, another for a vent, and a third to run the metal out at. From this last aperture, which is kept very close while the metal is in fusion, a small tube is laid, whereby the melted metal is conveyed into a large earthen basin, over the mould, into the bottom of which all the big branches of the jets, or cauls, which are to convey the metal into all the parts of the mould, are inserted.

These cauls or jets are all terminated with a kind of plugs, which are kept close, that, upon opening the furnace, the brass, which gushes out with violence, may not enter any of them, till the basin be full enough of matter to run into them all at once. Upon which occasion they pull out the plugs, which are long iron rods with a head at one end, capable of filling the whole diameter of each tube. The whole of the furnace is opened with a long piece of iron fitted at the end of each pole, and the mould filled in an instant. This completes the work in relation to the casting part; the rest being the sculptor's or carver's business, who, taking the figure out of the mould and earth wherewith it is encompassed, saws off the jets, with which it appears covered over, and repairs it with chisels, gravers, puncheons, &c.

Foundery of Bells. The metal, it is to be observed, is different for bells from what it is for statues; there being no tin in the statue metal; but there is a fifth, and sometimes more, in the bell metal.

The dimensions of the core and the wax for bells, if a chime of bells especially, are not left to chance, but must be measured on a scale, or diapason, which gives the height, aperture, and thickness, necessary for the several tones required.

It is on the wax that the several mouldings and other ornaments and inscriptions, to be represented in relief on the outside of the bell, are formed. The clapper or tongue is not properly a part of the bell, but is furnished from other hands. In Europe, it is usually of iron, with a large knob at the extreme; and is suspended in the middle of the bell. In China, it is only a huge wooden mallet, struck by force of arm against the bell; whence they can have but little of that consonance so much admired in some of our chimes of bells. The Chinese have an extraordinary way of increasing the sound of their bells, viz., by leaving a hole under the cannon; which our bell-founders would reckon a defect.

The proportions of our bells differ very much from those of the Chinese. In ours, the modern proportions are, to make the diameter 15 times the thickness of the brim, and the height 12 times. The parts of a bell are, 1. The founding bow, terminated by an inferior circle, which grows thinner and thinner. 2. The brim or that part of a bell whereon the clapper strikes, and which is thicker than the rest. 3. The outward sinking of the middle of the bell, or the point under Foundery, which it grows wider to the brim. 4. The waist or furniture, and the part that grows wider and thicker quite to the brim. 5. The upper vate, or that part which is above the waist. 6. The pallet which supports the flange of the clapper within. 7. The bent and hollowed branches of metal uniting with the cannons, to receive the iron keys, whereby the bell is hung up to the beam, which is its support and counterpoise when rung out.

The business of bell foundery is reducible to three particulars. 1. The proportion of a bell. 2. The forming of the mould. And, 3. The melting of the metal. There are two kinds of proportions, viz., the simple and the relative; the former are those proportions only that are between the several parts of a bell to render it sonorous; the relative proportions establish a requisite harmony between several bells.

The method of forming the profile of a bell, previous to its being cast, in which the proportion of the several parts may be seen, is as follows: the thickness of the brim, C (Plate CCXXIII.) is the foundation of every other measure, and is divided into three equal parts. First, draw the line HD, which represents the diameter of the bell; bisect it in F and erect the perpendicular Ff; let DF and HF be also bisected in E and G, and two other perpendiculars Ee, Ga, be erected at E and G: GE will be the diameter of the top or upper vate, i.e. the diameter of the top will be half that of the bell; and it will, therefore, be the diameter of a bell which will sound an octave to the other. Divide the diameter of the bell or the line HD into 15 equal parts, and one of these will give C the thickness of the brim; divide again each of these 15 equal parts into three other equal parts, and then form a scale. From this scale take 12 of the larger divisions or \( \frac{1}{12} \) of the whole scale in the compass, and setting one leg in D describe an arc to cut the line Ee in N; draw ND, and divide this line into 12 equal parts; at the point 1 erect the perpendicular 1 C = 10, and C will be the thickness of the brim \( \frac{1}{12} \) of the diameter: draw the line CD; bisect DN; and at the point of bisection 6 erect the perpendicular 6 K = \( \frac{1}{12} \) of the larger divisions on the scale. With an opening of the compass equal to twice the length of the scale or 30 brims, setting one leg in N, describe an arc of a circle, and with the same leg in K and the same opening describe another arc to intersect the former: on this point of intersection as a centre, and with a radius equal to 30 brims, describe the arc NK; in 6 K produced take KB = \( \frac{1}{12} \) of the larger measure of the scale or \( \frac{1}{12} \) of the brim, and on the same centre with the radius 30 brims describe an arc AB parallel to NK. For the arc BC, take 12 divisions of the scale or 12 brims in the compass; find a centre, and from that centre, with this opening, describe the arc BC, in the same manner as NK or AB were described. There are various ways of describing the arc KP; some describe it on a centre at the distance of nine brims from the points P and K; others, as it is done in the figure, on a centre at the distance only of seven brims from those points. But it is necessary first to find the point P, and to determine the rounding of the For this purpose, on the point C as centre, and with the radius C 1, describe the arc 1 p n; bisect the part 1,2 of the line D n, and erecting the perpendicular p m, this perpendicular will cut the arc 1 p n in m, which terminates the rounding 1 p. Some founders make the bendings K a third of a brim lower than the middle of the line DN; others make the part C 1 D more acute, and instead of making C 1 perpendicular to DN at 1, draw it 3/8th of a brim higher, making it still equal to one brim; so that the line 1 D is longer than the brim C r.

In order to trace out the top part N a, take in the compasses eight divisions of the scale or eight brims, and on the points N and D as centres, describe arcs to intersect each other in 8: on this point 8, with a radius of eight brims, describe the arc N b; this arc will be the exterior curve of the top or crown: on the same point 8 as a centre, and with a radius equal to 7½ brims, describe the arc A e, and this will be the interior curve of the crown, and its whole thickness will be one third of the brim. As the point 8 does not fall in the axis of the bell, a centre M may be found in the axis by describing, with the interval of eight brims on the centres D and H, arcs which will intersect in M; and this point may be made the centre of the inner and outer curves of the crown as before. The thickness of the cap which strengthens the crown at Q is about one third of the thickness of the brim; and the hollow branches or ears about one fifth of the diameter of the bell. The height of the bell is in proportion to its diameter as 12 to 15, or in the proportion of the fundamental sound to its third major: whence it follows, that the sound of a bell is principally composed of the sound of its extremity or brim as a fundamental, of the sound of the crown which is an octave to it, and of that of the height which is a third.

The particulars necessary for making the mould of a bell are, 1. The earth: the most cohesive is the best; it must be well ground and sifted, to prevent any chinks. 2. Brick stone; which must be used for the mine, mould, or core, and for the furnace. 3. Horse dung, hair, and hemp, mixed with the earth, to render the cement more binding. 4. The wax for inscriptions, coats of arms, &c. 5. The tallow equally mixed with the wax, in order to put a slight lay of it upon the outer mould, before any letters are applied to it. 6. The coals to dry the mould.

For making the mould, they have a scaffold consisting of four boards ranged upon trestles. Upon this they carry the earth, grossly diluted, to mix it with horse dung, beating the whole with a large spatula.

The compasses of construction is the chief instrument for making the mould, which consist of two different legs joined by a third piece. And, last of all the founders' shelves, on which are the engravings of the letters, cartridges, coats of arms, &c.

They first dig a hole of sufficient depth to contain the mould of the bell, together with the case or cannon under ground; and about six inches lower than the terreplein, where the work is performed. The hole must be wide enough for a free passage between the mould and walls of the hole, or between one mould and another, when several bells are to be cast. At the centre of the hole is a stake erected, that is strongly fastened in the ground. This supports an iron peg, on which the pivot of the second branch of the compasses turns. The stake is encompassed with a solid brick-work, perfectly round, about half a foot high, and of the proposed bell's diameter. This they call a millstone. The parts of the mould are, the core, the model of the bell, and the shell. When the outer surface of the core is formed, they begin to raise the core, which is made of bricks that are laid in courses of equal height upon a layer of plain earth. At the laying of each brick, they bring near it the branch of the compasses, on which the curve of the core is shaped, so that there may remain between it and the curve the distance of a line, to be afterwards filled up with layers of cement. The work is continued to the top, only leaving an opening for the coals to bake the core. This work is covered with a layer of cement, made of earth and horse dung; on which they move the compasses of construction, to make it of an even smoothness everywhere.

The first layer being finished, they put the fire to the core, by filling it half with coals, through an opening that is kept shut, during the baking, with a cake of earth that has been separately baked. The first fire consumes the stake, and the fire is left in the core half or sometimes a whole day: the first layer being thoroughly dry, they cover it with a second, third, and fourth; each being smoothed by the board of the compasses, and thoroughly dried before they proceed to another.

The core being completed, they take the compasses to pieces, with intent to cut off the thickness of the model, and the compasses are immediately put in their place to begin a second piece of the mould. It consists of a mixture of earth and hair, applied with the hand on the core, in several cakes that close together. This work is finished by several layers of a thinner cement of the same matter, smoothed by the compasses, and thoroughly dried before another is laid on. The first layer of the model is a mixture of wax and grease spread over the whole. After which are applied the inscriptions, coats of arms, &c. bejewelled with a pencil dipped in a vessel of wax in a chafing dish: this is done for every letter. Before the shell is begun, the compasses are taken to pieces, to cut off all the wood that fills the place of the thickness to be given to the shell.

The first layer is the same earth with the rest, sifted very fine: while it is tempering in water, it is mixed with cows hair to make it cohere. The whole being a thin cullis, is gently poured on the model, that fills exactly all the sinuosities of the figures, &c., and this is repeated till the whole is two lines thick over the model. When this layer is thoroughly dried, they cover it with a second of the same matter, but somewhat thicker; when this second layer becomes of some consistence, they apply the compasses again, and light a fire in the core, so as to melt off the wax of the inscriptions, &c.

After this, they go on with other layers of the shell, by means of the compasses. Here they add to the cows hair a quantity of hemp, spread upon the layers, and afterwards smoothed by the board of the compasses. The thickness of the shell comes to four or five inches lower than the millstone before observed, and surrounds it quite close, which prevents the extravasation of the metal. The wax should be taken out before the melting of the metal.

The ear of the bell requires a separate work, which is done during the drying of the several incrustations of the cement. It has seven rings: the seventh is called the bridge, and unites the others, being a perpendicular support to strengthen the curves. It has an aperture at the top, to admit a large iron peg, bent at the bottom; and this is introduced into two holes in the beam, fastened with two strong iron keys. There are models made of the rings, with masses of beaten earth, that are dried in the fire in order to have the hollow of them. These rings are gently pressed upon a layer of earth and cows hair, one half of its depth; and then taken out, without breaking the mould. This operation is repeated 12 times for 12 half moulds, that two and two united may make the hollows of the six rings: the same they do for the hollow of the bridge, and bake them all to unite them together.

Upon the open place left for the coals to be put in are placed the rings that constitute the ear. They first put into this open place the iron ring to support the clapper of the bell; then they make a round cake of clay, to fill up the diameter of the thickness of the core. This cake, after baking, is clapt upon the opening, and soldered with a thin mortar spread over it, which binds the cover close to the core.

The hollow of the model is filled with an earth, sufficiently moist to fix on the place, which is火烧 at several times upon the cover of the core; and they beat it gently with a pebble, to a proper height; and a workman smooths the earth at top with a wooden trowel dipped in water.

Upon this cover, to be taken off afterwards, they assemble the hollows of the rings. When every thing is in its proper place, they strengthen the outside of the hollows with mortar, in order to bind them with the bridge, and keep them steady at the bottom, by means of a cake of the same mortar, which fills up the whole aperture of the shell. This they let dry, that it may be removed without breaking. To make room for the metal, they pull off the hollows of the rings, through which the metal is to pass, before it enters into the cavity of the mould. The shell being unloaded of its ear, they range under the millstone five or six pieces of wood, about two feet long, and thick enough to reach almost the lower part of the shell; between these and the mould, they drive in wooden wedges with a mallet, to shake the shell of the model wherein it rests, so as to be pulled up and got out of the pit.

When this and the wax are removed, they break the model and the layer of earth, through which the metal must run, from the hollow of the rings, between the shell and the core. They smoke the inside of the shell, by burning straw under it, that helps to smooth the surface of the bell. Then they put the shell in the place, so as to leave the same interval between that and the core; and before the hollows of the rings or the cap are put on again, they add two vents, that are united to the rings, and to each other, by a mass of baked cement. After which they put on this mass of the cap, the rings, and the vent, over the shell, and folder it with thin cement, which is dried gradually by covering it with burning coals. Then they fill up the pit with earth, beating it strongly all the time round the mould.

The furnace has a place for the fire, and another for the metal. The fire-place has a large chimney with a spacious ash-hole. The furnace which contains the metal is vaulted, whose bottom is made of earth, rammed down; the rest is built with brick. It has four apertures; the first, through which the flame reverberates; the second is closed with a flue that is opened for the metal to run; the others are to separate the dross or scoriae of the metal by wooden rakes: through these last apertures passes the thick smoke. The ground of the furnace is built sloping, for the metal to run down.

**Foundery of Great Guns and Mortar Pieces.** The method of casting these pieces is little different from that of bells; they are run maffly, without any core, being determined by the hollow of the shell; and they are afterwards bored with a steel trepan, that is worked either by horses or a water mill.

For the metal, parts, proportions, &c. of these pieces, see **Gunnery.**

**Letter Foundery, or Casting of Printing Letters.**

In the business of cutting, casting, &c. letters for printing, the letter-cutter must be provided with a vice, hand-vice, hammers, and files of all sorts for watchmakers use; as also gravers and sculptors of all sorts, and an oilstone, &c. suitable and sizeable to the several letters to be cut: a flat gage made of box to hold a rod of steel, or the body of a mould, &c. exactly perpendicular to the flat of the using file: a sliding gage, whose use is to measure and set off distances between the shoulder and the tooth, and to mark it off from the end, or from the edge of the work; a face gage, which is a square notch cut with a file into the edge of a thin plate of steel, iron, or brass, of the thickness of a piece of common tin, whose use is to proportion the face of each sort of letter, viz. long letters, ascending letters, and short letters. So there must be three gages; and the gage for the long letters is the length of the whole body supposed to be divided into 42 equal parts. The gage for the ascending letters Roman and Italic are \( \frac{5}{7} \), or 30 parts of 42, and 33 parts for the English face. The gage for the short letters is \( \frac{4}{7} \), or 18 parts of 42 of the whole body for the Roman and Italic, and 22 parts for the English face.

The Italic and other standing gages are to measure the scope of the Italic stems, by applying the top and bottom of the gage to the top and bottom lines of the letters, and the other side of the gage to the stem; for when the letter complies with these three sides of the gage, that letter has its true shape.

The next care of the letter-cutter is to prepare good steel punches, well tempered, and quite free from all veins of iron; on the face of which he draws or marks the exact shape of the letter with pen and ink if the letter be large, or with a smooth blunted point of a needle if it be small; and then with sizeable and proper shaped and pointed gravers and sculptors, digs or fulps out the fleel between the strokes or marks he made on the face of the punch, and leaves the marks standing. standing on the face. Having well shaped the inside strokes of his letter, he deepens the hollows with the same tools; for if a letter be not deep in proportion to its width, it will, when used at press, print black, and be good for nothing. This work is generally regulated by the depth of the counter-punch. Then he works the outside with proper files till it be fit for the matrice.

But before we proceed to the sinking and justifying of the matrices, we must provide a mould to justify them by, of which there is a draught in Plate CCXXIII. fig. 1, 2.

Every mould is composed of an upper and an under part. The under part is delineated in fig. 1. The upper part is marked fig. 2, and is in all respects made like the under part, excepting the stool behind, and the bow or spring also behind; and excepting a small roundish wire between the body and carriage, near the break, where the under part hath a small rounding groove made in the body. This wire, or rather half wire, in the upper part makes the nick in the thank of the letter, when part of it is received into the groove in the under part. These two parts are so exactly fitted and gaged into one another (viz. the male gage marked e in fig. 2, into the female marked g in fig. 1.), that when the upper part of the mould is properly placed on, and in the under part of the mould, both together make the entire mould, and may be slid backwards for use so far, till the edge of either of the bodies on the middle of either carriage comes just to the edge of the female gages cut in each carriage; and they may be slid forward so far, till the bodies on either carriage touch each other: and the sliding of these two parts of the mould backwards makes the thank of the letter thicker, because the bodies on each part stand wider asunder; and the sliding them forwards makes the thank of the letter thinner, because the bodies on each part of the mould stand closer together. The parts of the mould are as follow: viz. a, The carriage. b, The body. c, The male gage. d, e, The mouth-piece. f, i, The register. g, The female gage. h, The hag. a a a a, The bottom-plate. b b b, The wood on which the bottom-plate lies. c c c, The mouth. d d, The throat. e d d, The pallat. f, The nick. g g, The stool. h h, The spring or bow.

Then the mould must be justified: and first the founder justifies the body, by casting about 20 proofs or samples of letters; which are set up in a composing stick, with all their nicks towards the right hand; and then by comparing these with the pattern letters, set up in the same manner, he finds the exact measure of the body to be cast. He also tries if the two sides of the body are parallel, or that the body be no bigger at the head than at the foot, by taking half the number of his proofs and turning them with their heads to the feet of the other half; and if then the heads and the feet be found exactly even upon each other, and neither to drive out nor get in, the two sides of the thicknesses are parallel.

The mould thus justified, the next business is to prepare the matrices. A matrice is a piece of brass or copper of about an inch and a half long, and of a thickness in proportion to the size of the letter it is to contain. In this metal is sunk the face of the letter intended to be cast, by striking the letter punch about the depth of an n. After this the sides and face of the matrice must be justified and cleared with files of all bunchings made by sinking the punch.

Every thing thus prepared, it is brought to the furnace; which is built of brick upright, with four square sides, and a stone on the top, in which stone is a wide round hole for the pan to stand in. A foundry of any consequence has several of these furnaces in it.

As to the metal of which the types are to be cast, this, in extensive foundries, is always prepared in large quantities; but cast into small bars, of about 20 pounds weight, to be delivered out to the workmen as occasion requires. In the letter foundry which has been long carried on with reputation under the direction of Mr. Wilson and Sons at Glasgow, we are informed, that a stock of metal is made up at two different times of the year, sufficient to serve the casters at the furnace for six months each time. For this purpose, a large furnace is built under a shade, furnished with a wheel vent, in order the more equally to heat the sides of a strong pot of cast iron, which holds when full 15 hundred weight of the metal. The fire being kindled below, the bars of lead are let softly down into the pot, and their fusion promoted by throwing in some pitch and tallow, which soon inflame. An outer chimney, which is built so as to project about a foot over the farther lip of the pot, catches hold of the flame by a strong draught, and makes it act very powerfully in melting lead; whilst it serves at the same time to convey away all the fumes, &c. from the workmen, to whom this laborious part of the business is committed. When the lead is thoroughly melted, a due proportion of the regulus of antimony and other ingredients are put in, and some more tallow is inflamed to make the whole incorporate sooner. The workmen now having mixed the contents of the pot very thoroughly by stirring long with a large iron ladle, next proceed to draw the metal off into the small troughs of cast iron, which are ranged to the number of four score upon a level platform faced with stone, built towards the right hand. In the course of a day 15 hundred weight of metal can be easily prepared in this manner; and the operation is continued for as many days as are necessary to prepare a stock of metal of all the various degrees of hardness. After this, the whole is disposed into presses according to its quality, to be delivered out occasionally to the workmen.

The founder must now be provided with a ladle, which differs nothing from other iron ladles but in its size; and he is provided always with ladles of several sizes, which he uses according to the size of the letters he is to cast. Before the caster begins to cast, he must kindle his fire in the furnace to melt the metal in the pan. Therefore he takes the pan out of the hole in the stone, and there lays in coals and kindles them; and, when they are well kindled, he sets the pan in again, Foundery again, and puts in metal into it to melt: if it be a small-bodied letter he casts, or a thin letter of great bodies, his letter must be very hot, nay sometimes red-hot, to make the letter come. Then having chosen a ladle that will hold about so much as the letter and break is, he lays it at the stoking hole, where the flame bursts out, to heat. Then he ties a thin leather, cut with its narrow end against the face to the leather groove of the matrice, by whipping a brown thread twice about the leather groove, and fastening the thread with a knot. Then he puts both halves of the mould together, and puts the matrice into the matrice-cheek, and places the foot of the matrice on the stool of the mould, and the broad end of the leather upon the wood of the upper half of the mould, but not tight up, lest it might hinder the foot of the matrice from sinking close down upon the stool in a train of work. Then laying a little rosin on the upper wood of the mould, and having his casting ladle hot, he with the boiling side of it melts the rosin; and, when it is yet melted, presses the broad end of the leather hard down on the wood, and so fastens it to the wood; all this is the preparation.

Now he comes to casting. Wherefore, placing the under half of the mould in his left hand, with the hook or hag forward, he clutches the ends of its wood between the lower part of the ball of his thumb and his three hind fingers; then he lays the upper half of the mould upon the under half, so that the male gages may fall into the female gages, and at the same time the foot of the matrice places itself upon the stool; and, clasping his left hand thumb strong over the upper half of the mould, he nimbly catches hold of the bow or spring with his right hand fingers at the top of it, and his thumb under it, and places the point of it against the middle of the notch in the backside of the matrice, pressing it as well forwards towards the mould, as downwards by the shoulder of the notch close upon the stool, while at the same time with his hinder fingers, as aforeaid, he draws the under half of the mould towards the ball of his thumb, and thrusts by the ball of his thumb the upper part towards his fingers, that both the registries of the mould may press against both sides of the matrice, and his thumb and fingers press both halves of the mould close together.

Then he takes the handle of his ladle in his right hand, and with the boll of it gives a stroke, two or three, outwards upon the surface of the melted metal, to scum or clear it from the film or dust that may swim upon it; then takes up the ladle full of metal, and having his mould, as aforeaid, in his left hand, he a little twists the left side of his body from the furnace, and brings the seat of his ladle (full of metal) to the mouth of the mould, and twists the upper part of his right hand towards him to turn the metal into it, while at the same moment of time he jilts the mould in his left hand forwards, to receive the metal with a strong shake (as it is called), not only into the body of the mould, but while the metal is yet hot running, swift and strongly, into the very face of the matrice, to receive its perfect form there, as well as in the flank.

Then he takes the upper half of the mould off the under half, by placing his right hand thumb, on the end of the wood next his left hand thumb, and his two middle fingers at the other end of the wood; and Foundery finding the letter and break lie in the under half of the mould (as most commonly by reason of its weight it does), he throws or tosses the letter, break and all, upon a sheet of waste paper laid for that purpose on the bench, just a little beyond his left hand, and is then ready to cast another letter as before; and also, the whole number that is to be cast with that matrice. A workman will ordinarily cast about 3000 of these letters in a day.

When the casters at the furnace have got a sufficient number of types upon the tables, a set of boys come and nimbly break away the jets from them: the jets are thrown into the pots, and the types are carried away in parcels to other boys, who pass them swiftly under their fingers, defended by leather, upon smooth flat stones, in order to polish their broadsides. This is a very dexterous operation, and is a remarkable instance of what may be effected by the power of habit and long practice; for these boys, in turning up the other side of the type, do it so quickly by a mere touch of the fingers of the left hand, as not to require the least perceptible intermission in the motion of the right hand upon the stone. The types, thus finely smoothed and flattened on the broad sides, are next carried to another set of boys, who sit at a square table, two on each side, and there are ranged upon long rulers or sticks, fitted with a small projection, to hinder them from sliding off backwards. When these sticks are filled, they are placed, two and two, upon a set of wooden pins fixed into the wall, near the dresser, sometimes to the amount of an hundred, in order to undergo the finishing operations. This workman, who is always the most expert and skilful in all the different branches carried on at the foundery, begins by taking one of these sticks, and, with a peculiar address, slides the whole column of types off upon the dressing-stick: this is made of well-seasoned mahogany, and furnished with two end-pieces of steel, a little lower than the body of the types, one of which is moveable, so as to approach the other by means of a long screw-pin, inserted in the end of the stick. The types are put into the stick with their faces next to the back or projection; and after they are adjusted to one another so as to stand even, they are then bound up, by screwing home the moveable end-piece. It is here where the great and requisite accuracy of the moulds comes to be perceived; for in this case the whole column, so bound up, lies flat and true upon the stick, the two extreme types being quite parallel, and the whole has the appearance of one solid continuous plate of metal. The least inaccuracy in the exact parallelism of the individual type, when multiplied so many times, would render it impossible to bind them up in this manner, by disposing them to rise or spring from the stick by the smallest pressure from the screw. Now, when lying so conveniently with the narrow edges uppermost, which cannot possibly be smoothed in the manner before mentioned by the stones, the workman does this more effectually by scraping the surface of the column with a thick-edged but sharp razor, which at every stroke brings on a very fine smooth skin, like polished silver; and thus he proceeds till in about half a minute he comes to the farther end of the stick. The other edges