1857.] American Inventive Genus — Patent Office Report. 547 



a Telegraph, which pays better than all the painting since the days of 

 Apeiles ! 



Well, why not? Why should men of letters, of science, and the 

 elegant arts, be compelled to sigh their hours away in penury? At 

 any rate, American genius most emphatically takes the path that 

 will pay. Let any one look into the Patent Office Reports, and he 

 will see hundreds of Inventions of which the object is to make ma- 

 chinery, like Pindar's razors, to sell. Sometimes this succeeds, and 

 the sale of Patent Rights, (now an extensive business,) makes their 

 owner's fortunes. This is the case with the patent for Plowing Ma- 

 chines, an exceedingly valuable one. 



The sale of Patent Rights is now carried on all over the country^ 

 as regularly as any other business. We shall scarcely wonder at this 

 when we consider the immense number of Patents issued. Dividing 

 the number of Patents issued recently into three periods, we have 

 this result : 



From 1842 to 1846, inclusive 2,671 



From 1847 to 1 851, inclusive 4,172 



From 1852 to 1856, inclusive 8,406 



Increase from first to second period 55 per cent. 



Increase from second to third period 100 per cent. 



When is this enormous increase to cease ! Never ! while the 

 chances of drawing a prize in the Patent Lottery is so much greater 

 than in all other Lotteries, and the capital required is so small. — 

 The applications filed in the last year were nearly 5.000. The Com- 

 missioner of the Patent Office remarks, that the number of Patents 

 issued in this country is now greater than those granted by the Eng- 

 lish Office, and the number of applications greater than those made 

 in France ! France has 33 per cent, more population than that of 

 the United States, and the French people are by no means dull. — 

 But, the fact is, the United States is the land of enterprise, and there 

 is the place to make Patents profitable. A curious fact is, that near- 

 ly all the Patents of this country are for useful purposes. Thus : 



Agricultural Machinery 300 



Sewing Machines 25 



Furnaces, <fec 20 



Stoves, &,c 84 



Stoves have occupied mind, quite as much as any one article till 

 recently. But now. Agricultural Machines are all the rage ; and well 

 they may be, for they will be of immense service, not merely to agri- 

 culture, but to the entire world. For want of labor, agriculture has 

 been flagging. A much larger proportion of persons go to cities 



