Ingenuity in Copying and Decorating.
A feat which is a mere trifle as compared with reproducing a book by photography, turns upon a loan from an old resource. Confectioners from time immemorial have squeezed paste out of bags through apertures into ornaments for wedding cakes and the like. With similar bags decorators force a thin stream of plaster into a semblance of flowers, fruits, and arabesques on their ceilings and cornices. On the same plan, with pressure more severe, soap is forced, from a tank through a square opening to form bars for the laundress. Increasing the pressure once again, clay for bricks is urged forth, to be divided into lengths suitable for the kiln. Lead pipe is manufactured on the same principle, recalling the production of macaroni. A further step was taken by Alexander Dick, the inventor of Delta metal; by employing hydraulic pressure on metals at red heat he poured out wires and bars of varied cross-sections, superseding the method of drawing through dies.