Copying-machine

(-mah-sheen',) the name of various contrivances for procuring duplicates of writing without the labor of transcribing them. The e ence of the method is this:-In writing the original, an ink is used that is made for the purpose, or common ink thickened by the addition of a little sugar. When the writing is dry, a dampened sheet of thin un sized paper is laid upon it, and over this a piece of oiled paper. The whole is then subjected to pre ure, and the damped paper is found to have taken off an impre ion of the writing. It is of course the reverse of the original, but the nature of the paper allows it to be read right on the other side. [s. 227]