or lower edges of the steel plates are extended to a considerable distance from each other, so that a vertical section of the plates, or a section made at right angles with their edges, would form two sides of an equilateral tri» angle nearly, or their relative position would somewhat resemble the outer strokes or legs of the letter A. And we cause the upper edges of the said steel plates to be ground so that the basils formed by grinding the edges of the said steel plates may be in a line with each other, or in the same plane with the surface of the table or nearly so, and that the inside or opposed edges of the two plates may be sharp, We likewise construct one or more hardened steel wheel or wheels about three inches diameter, turned true, with a sharp edge round the same, basiled away on both sides similar to the edge of a hard or cold chissel commonly used for cutting iron when cold; and in each wheel we affix a transverse axis or arbor, upon which they may revolve. The edges of these wheels being applied between the opposed edges of the hardened steel plates, and the wheel or wheels caused to revolve upon them from one end to the other, the paper having been previously spread upon the table and over the edges of the said steel plates; and the said steel wheel or wheels being held down by a sufficient weight, the paper is cut by their action against the sharpened edges of the steel plates, as they revolve upon such steel plates. And to facilitate the operation, and render it more expeditious, we cause two other hardened steel plates, similar to those above de scribed, to be placed across the table in a similar position, and further from that end of the table over which the reel is suspended, and exactly parallel with the former ones, and at such a distance from them as corresponds to the di mensions of the sheets of paper to be cut, from the larger VOL. XIII-SECOND SERIES. Ii or longer one upon the reel or roller; and by applying two of the above described hardened steel wheels at a convenient distance from each other, upon the edges of one pair of the steel plates, and one other of such wheels upon the edges of the other pair of steel plates, and by connecting the said three wheels firmly together by means of proper frame-work, in which the arbors or axes of the said wheels turn, and whereby the wheels themselves are held in a proper position, and their edges falling into the space between the edges of each pair of steel plates respectively, we obtain a carriage with three wheels, capable of supporting itself upon those wheels, two on one side and one upon the other; and upon the said carriage we place a box containing a weight, or a number of weights, sufficient to produce the effect above described, viz. occasioning such a resistance between the hardened steel wheels and the edges of the steel plates, as to separate or cut the paper placed between them. The iron bars supporting the second pair of steel plates or those furthest from the reel, are so affixed to the frame of the table, that they may be moved nearer to or further from the other pair of steel plates, and again set parallel therewith; and likewise the frame-work to which the steel wheels are affixed is so constructed, that the distance between the one wheel on one side, and the two other wheels on the opposite side, may be made equal to the distance between the edges of the two pair of steel plates, according to the intended dimensions of the sheets of paper required. Having as above described and ascertained the application and use of the instruments, as well as the instruments themselves which we now use for cutting or sub- · dividing |