could be accomplished in a half-hour or so.

In the process of casting, several of these plaster molds were placed
side by side face downward in a special casting-pan. The pan was one
and three-quarters or two inches deep, and a lid on the pan screwed
down on the back of the molds. By means of a crane the casting pan
with its molds was then lowered into the pot of molten metal which ran
into the pan at the corners and sides. The mold was allowed to remain
ten minutes or so in the metal-pot, or until the face of the inverted
mold was entirely filled with the metal.

[Illustration]

A later method of casting from a plaster mold was to place it in a
frame with a smooth, flat plate opposite the face of the mold and to
enclose the open space at one end and on the two sides. The casting
space thus formed was then turned with the open end up and metal was
poured in with a ladle, in a manner similar to the method still
employed for casting job-work stereotypes. The distance between the
flat plate and the mold was adjusted to make a stereotype plate of the
required thickness.

After the removal and cooling of the casting pan, the plates were
freed from the plaster and the surplus metal cut off. Only one cast
could be made, as the mold was usually destroyed in removing the cast.
The stereotype was then sent to the finishing department, where the
face was cleaned and examined for defective letters, then trimmed on
the sides and planed off uniformly on the back to the desired
thickness, in the same manner as a stereotype is treated today. A
defective letter could be mortised out of the plate and a good type
inserted in its place. In cases where a whole line or other part was
imperfect, another mold was made of as much of the form as was
necessary and the new cast inserted and soldered to the plate.

There were many and varied experiments made in the earlier development
of this idea of producing a duplicate printing form in a single piece.
That such a process was highly desirable was universally recognized,
and the conviction that some practicable and economical method was
feasible was a continual incentive which gradually led to better
results.

STEREOTYPING IN AMERICA

Although credit is given to John Watts, an Englishman then working in
America, for making the first stereotype plates here, the real
introduction of the process into the United States was by David Bruce.
This was in 1813. Bruce had learned the print