"The iridium for this purpose is found in small grains of platinum, slightly alloyed with this latter metal. The gold for pens is alloyed with silver to about sixteen carats fineness, rolled into thin strips, from which the blanks are struck. The under side of the point is notched by a small circular saw to receive the iridium point, which is selected with the aid of a microscope. A flux of borax and a blowpipe secure it to its place. The point is then ground on a copper wheel of emery. The pen-blank is next rolled to the requisite thinness by the means of rollers especially adapted for the purpose, and tempered by blows from a hammer. It is then trimmed around the edges, stamped, and formed in a press. The slit is next cut through the solid iridium point by means of a thin copper wheel fed with fine emery, and a saw extends the aperture along the pen itself. The inside edges of the slit are smoothed and polished by the emery wheel; burnishing and hammering produce the proper degree of elasticity." It is asserted that more steel is used in the manufacture of pens than in all the swords and guns in the world. This fact partly verifies the old saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword." "Three things bear mighty sway with men, The Sword, the Sceptre, and the Pen; Who can the least of these command, In the first rank of Fame will stand." CHAPTER XXVII. SUBSTITUTES FOR INK UTENSILS ("LEAD" AND OTHER PENCILS). "BLACK-LEAD" PENCILS AN EXCELLENT PEN SUBSTITUTE UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS--ITS COMPOSITION-- "BLACK-LEAD" CONTAINS NO LEAD, HENCE THE NAME IS MISAPPLIED--THE DISCOVERY OF ITS PRINCIPAL SOURCE OF SUPPLY AN ACCIDENT--A DESCRIPTION OF HOW IT IS MINED--TREATMENT BEFORE BEING INTRODUCED INTO THE GROOVED WOOD--USE OF RED AND BLACK CHALK PENCILS IN GERMANY, 1450--THEIR USE IN MEXICO IN EARLY TIMES--WHO MANUFACTURES LEAD PENCILS--EMPLOYMENT OF THE COMPOSITION OF LEAD AND TIN IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES--BAVARIAN GOVERNMENT IN 1816 A MANUFACTURER OF LEAD PENCILS. THE black-lead pencil, under many circumstances, is a very useful substitute for the pen, in that it requires no liquid ink for marking the characters on paper or other materials. The peculiar substance which fills the central channel of the stick of cedar has the property of marking when it touches paper; and, as the marks thus made are susceptible to easy removal, a pencil of this kind is available for purposes which would not be answered by the use of pen and ink. The substance misnamed "black-lead" contains NO LEAD and is a carburet of iron, being composed of carbon and iron. It generally occurs in Mountain districts, in small kidney-shaped pieces, varying in size from that of a pea upwards, which are interspersed among various strata, and is met with in different parts of the world.