in the box upside down, and substituted another. A boy went regularly through the shop, took up all the upside-down tools, ground them, and brought them back. The grindstones were provided with tool-holders and a compound screw feed, by which the tools were always presented to the stone at the same desired angle, and were prevented from wearing out the stone by running into grooves or following soft spots. The whole surface of the stone was used uniformly and kept in perfect condition. I picked up in that shop the solid wrench made with the elegant improvement of inclining the handle at the angle of 15 degrees from the line of the jaws; enabling it, by turning the wrench over, to be worked within a radial angle of 30 degrees. This adapted it for use in tight places. I brought the idea home with me and always supplied my engines with wrenches made in that way. I offered the plan to Billings & Spencer for nothing, but they did not think it worth making the dies for. Mr. Williams was more appreciative. I believe it is now in quite common use. At that time toolmaking in this country, which has since become so magnificently developed, was in many important respects in a primitive condition, and I proposed to introduce into my shop every best tool and method, adapted to my requirements, that I could find in England. For this purpose I visited and carefully studied all the tool works of good standing, and my final conclusion was that the best tools for design, strength, solidity, facility of operation and truth of work were those made by Smith & Coventry. This may be guessed from the few examples I have given of their fertile mindedness and advanced ideas. So I prepared a careful list of tools that I proposed to order from them in time to be ready for use as soon as my shop should be completed. I found also the remarkable fact that I could obtain these tools, duty and freight paid, decidedly cheaper than corresponding inferior tools could then be got from American makers.