Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/691

* TYPEWRITERS. 597 TYPHOID FEVER. Manifolding. Kepiints may be secured by the ordinary copy-press (see Copying Maciiine.s), copying ink being used on the typewriter ribbon or pad. By the use of carbon paper alternately between thin sheets of ordinary paper, the type- writer itself can be made to produce several copies at a time, while by the use of a special kind of paper on a sheet of cloth stencils may be made for the mimeograph. See Copying Machine. The rapid growth of the use of the typewriter is noteworthy. It was placed on the market in the early seventies and its usefulness was soon appreciated by courts of law, business houses, and governmental departments. In the early eight- ies its use became general in all departments of Government except the Department of State. It was first used for instructions to diplomatic and consular officers in 1805. The official communi- cations of the Department to diplomatic officers of foreign countries were first executed upon the typewriter in 1897. Ceremonial letters addressed to sovereigns are still hand-written. The Twelfth Census contains an account of an interesting list made by the United States Department of Labor of the eomparatie speed of ty|>ewriting and hand labor. "In this instance the unit required was the copying of 1000 words of statute law ; this was accomplished by the typewriter in 19.5 min- utes, or at the rale of 51 words per minute while a copyist with a pen required 1 hour and 14.8 minutes, or about four times as long. The quan- tity of work done by the tj'pewriter depends to a great extent upon the skill of the operator, but it is true also that the proficiency of the copyist enters largely into the quantity of the work performed by him. However, it is possible to determine an average, and the figures given may be accepted as a fair and reasonable com- parison of the two methods." Typewriters are now an essential part of the equipment of telegraph offices, for so rapidly can messages be transcribed that the receiving opera- tor can not only keep pace with the sender, but can maintain speed so great as to bring about the abbreviation of the telegraphic code. Recently attention has been directed to the production of power typewriters, in which the operator has merely to touch a key with sufficient force to release latent mechanism, wdiereujion power from some external source completes the impression. In electrical typewriters, of which several have recently been patented, the impres- sion mechanism is operated by magnets, the op- erator closing the circuit when he touches the key. Statistics. According to the census of 1900 there were in the United States 47 typewriter factories, in which a combined capital of .$8,400,- 4.31 was invested. These factories produced in 1900 144,873 typewriters, valued at .$5,624,172. Of the total product $2,697,544 worth, or nearly half the total number, were exported. The enormous growth of the industry during the last decade of the century is shown by the fact that in 1890 there were only .SO factories, having a capital of $1,421.78.'! and producing an output valued at $.3.6.'?0,12fl. That is. the number of establishments increased 56.7 per cent.; the capi- tal invested, 490.8 per cent. ; and the value of the product, 91 per cent. TYPHA (Neo-Lat., from Gk. ti}^)?, typhe, cat-tail). A genus of widely distributed marsh plants of the natural order Typhacese. Two spe- cies are American, Tiiiilui lulifolia and Typlia (intitisti folia, and are i>opularly known as cat's- tail or reed-mace. The former, which is the commoner, is sometimes called bulrush. It growa to the height of five or six feet. The astringent rootstocks are rich in starch, and the young CAX's-TAiL (Typha lali/olia). shoots of both species are much eaten by the Cos- sacks of the Don, and are sometimes used in England under the name of Cossack asparagus. The pollen of Typha is inflammable, like that of Lycopodium, for which it is used as a substitute. Typha (iiif/iisfifolia and Typha elcphantiiia are emjdoyed in India and Europe for making mats and baskets, chair bottoms, etc. The leaves of Typha are commonly used in the United States in cooperage to place between the staves and in the seams of barrel heads. TYPHXOP'IDiE. See Blindworm (2). TYPHOID FEVER (from Gk. reOwi!;;.;, ty- phodes, delirious, from rvipo^, typhos, stupor, mist, vapor, smoke, from riitfeiv, typhcin. to smoke; connected with Skt. dhupa, smoke) or Enteric Fent:!!. A specific disease, infectious chiefly or entirely through the excretions, having a febrile period of about three weeks, and char- acterized by ulceration of the intestinal lymph