articles were introduced, and consequently the public naturally lost
confidence, and it demanded great exertions on the part of the more
respectable members of the trade, ere the merits of the new invention
were recognised. At present, it is generally allowed that a good
steel-rib Umbrella can be as easily procured as a carefully tempered
razor or sword.

A Swiss watch-spring maker, named Sanguinede, had discovered a
secret of tempering steel which gave it great strength, and he had
made some, very light umbrellas, but they were immensely dear. On his
death the secret died with him, and Mr. Fox set to work to discover a
method which should combine strength and lightness.

Mr. Fox's Paragon frame, simple in its construction, half the weight
of whalebone, but equally strong, is admitted to be the greatest
improvement yet introduced in the manufacture of an Umbrella. The
ribs are made in the form of a trough with flat sides, by which shape
the greatest amount of strength is obtained. The same principle, as
is well known, has been successfully applied in the construction of
the Great Tubular Bridge over the Menai Straits, from which Mr. Fox
took the idea.

The weight of the Umbrella having been thus reduced, the next
question was, whether some amendment could not be made in the
covering material. For a long time, Umbrellas were only covered with
two materials--silk and cotton, and the want of some substance, which
would resist the greater friction and consequent wear than an
Umbrella invariably undergoes, formed a subject of anxious attention
to the writer of this little book. Several materials were tried
without success, until a fabric called Alpaca, made of the wool of