ng arm advances the slugs
laterally in the galley, assembling them in column or page form ready
for use. To insure absolute accuracy in the height and thickness of
the slugs, knives are arranged to act upon the base and side faces as
they are being carried toward the galley. After the matrices have
served their purpose in front of the mould, they are shifted laterally
until the teeth in their upper ends engage the horizontal ribs on the
bar _R_; this bar then rises, as shown by the dotted lines, lifting
the matrices to the distributor at the top of the machine, but leaving
the wedge spacers, _I_, behind, to be shifted to their box, _H_. The
teeth in the top of each matrix are arranged in a special order,
according to the character it contains, the number or relation of its
teeth differing from that of a matrix containing any other character,
and this difference insures proper distribution. A distributor bar,
_T_, is fixed horizontally over the upper end of the magazine and
bears on its lower edge longitudinal ribs or teeth, adapted to engage
the teeth of the matrices and hold the latter in suspension as they
are carried along the bar over the mouths of the magazine channels by
means of screws which engage their edges. Each matrix remains in
engagement with the bar until it arrives at the required point,
directly over its own channel, and at this point for the first time
its teeth bear such relation to those on the bar that it is permitted
to disengage and fall into the channel. It is to be particularly noted
that the matrices pursue a circulatory course through the machine,
starting singly from the bottom of the magazine and passing thence to
the line being composed, thence in the line to the mould, and finally
back singly to the top of the magazine. This circulation permits the
operations of composing one line, casting from a second, and
distributing a third, to be carried on concurrently, and enables the
machine to run at a speed exceeding that at which an operator can
finger the keys. A change from one face of type to any other is
effected by simply drawing off one magazine and substituting another
containing the face required, so that the variety of faces needs to be
limited only by the number of them which the printer chooses to carry
in his stock.

[Illustration: A Linotype Matrix.]

[Illustration: Diagram of the Linotype Machine.]

[Illustration: Linotype Slugs.]

[Illustration: The Linotype Melting Pot and