| The writing instrument that dominated for the | | | | of an eyedropper. An eyedropper was used to |
| longest period in history was the quill pen. Quill pens, | | | | transfer ink from the bottle to the pen. However, |
| made from the wing feathers of geese, lasted for | | | | this process was messy and inconvenient. There are |
| only a week before they needed to be replaced. | | | | three main components in a fountain pen â |
| When handwriting developed into an art form, | | | | the reservoir, the feed mechanism and the nib. The |
| inventors began improving the writing instrument with | | | | reservoir holds the ink, the feed mechanism channels |
| newer technologies. | | | | the ink from the reservoir to the nib and the nib |
| Fountain Pen innovators created filling systems that | | | | (usually made of gold or steel) does the actual |
| gave optimum performance in their reservoir designs. | | | | writing. |
| The earliest fountain pens were filled through the use | | | | |