The substance of the present work is, however, largely based upon personal experiences, investigations and observations made by the author in various parts of the globe.<br><br>Many leading home and foreign manufacturers in the different departments of the industry, are impartially referred to, so that where information has been necessarily curtailed, or deemed advisable to omit, the interested reader may pursue his inquiries or studies in competent channels.<br><br>It is therefore hoped that some instructive and useful particulars may be gleaned from the following pages by those interested or engaged in the technical and commercial applications of wire or its products.<br><br>A few lines will now be devoted to the general plan of the treatise, after which some comments will be appended upon matters of interest which have transpired, or have come under the writer's notice, since the work has passed through the press.<br><br>Considerable care and trouble has been bestowed upon the collection of the historical, and other data, given in the treatise, and in obtaining reliable confirmation as far as possible.<br><br>Upon perusing the Introduction, it is believed the reader will concur that sufficient has been written to demonstrate to a wide community some of the many serviceable applications of wire, and did space permit, the examples might be almost indefinitely extended.