PINDAR, one of the most celebrated lyric poets of ancient Greece, was born at Cynoscephalw near Thebes, and flourished about the year 480 before Christ, and is said to have died in the public theatre at the advanced age of eighty-six, in the year 535. In the curly part of his life he was instructed in the kindred studies of music and poetry, and was taught the composition of verses by Nyrtis and Corinna. He was afterwards patronized by Theron of Agrigenturn and Hiero of Syracuse, and had every sort of honour paid to his talents, both during his life and after his death. Few of his works have escaped the ravages of time. His book of odes in praise of the victories at the Olympic, Pythean, Nemean, and Isthmian games, is alone extant ; and these are distinguished by boldness and force, and by a great wildness and irregu larity of character, so as to characterize a particular species of poetry known by the name of Pindaric.
The best editions of Pindar are those of Heyne, 4to. printed at Gottingen in 1773 ; of Glasgow, l2mo. 1774 ; and of Schmidius, 4to. \Vittsberg, 1616.
PIN Al ANUFACTURE. The manufacture of pins has been long carried on with great success in England, and so great is the consumption of this small article, that se veral tons of pins are made annually by some of the prin cipal manufacturers.
The brass wire of which pins are made is first drawn to the proper thickness, and after being straightened it is cut into different lengths, each of which is cuffkeient for making several pins. The ends of these lengths are then well pointed on small grinding-stones, and the length of a pin is cut off from each end, and the process repeated till the length of wire is exhausted. In order to make
the head, a piece of metallic wire is spun on another, so as to form a hollow spiral when taken off. This spiral wire is then cut by shears into small parts of two coils each, which is sufficient for making the head. In putting on the head, the workman thrusts the blunt end of the pin among the heads, and then immediately placing it under a heavy weight or pressure, the head is made secure by a blow, and the pin completed in its form. It is then whitened, by putting it in a copper colouring tin and the lees of wine. Twenty workmen are said to be employed on each pin, from the drawing of the wire to the arrangement of the pins on the paper.
Great improvements have recently been made in head ing pins, as the excellency of the article depends chiefly upon the nicety with which this is effected. The old method has received great improvements ; but these, we have no doubt, will be superseded by the machine lately invented by Mr. Church, for raising a head upon the wire itself so that the whole pin consists of one piece of brass. The pins made in the usual manner are put into a sort of hopper, which permits only one to escape at a time. The pin is seized as it escapes, and has a head raised upon it by the machine, and this head is perfected by another operation.
We have now before us some of the pins manufactured by Mr. Church's machine, which are remarkably beauti ful, and must give great satisfaction to those who use them. We expect to be able to give a drawing and de scription of Mr. Church's machine in the Supplement to this work.