ARROWS t DIGGERS. 



ShOTtll. 







^/j^A^/j .^ ^^„j.^,H,./y ^«5(V/^/ J^^/*f^A //:>/ 



Figure ii. — Improv'ED spades palented by James Wood, February lO, 1825 (restored patent 4022XJ. 



to be gained than this from the patent records. Tlie 

 original manuscript petitions of patentees suggest 

 the educational and social status of the inventors of 

 the period. Carried a step further, the authors of 

 our "anonymous history" might be properly identified 

 and appraised in biographical sketches. Regional 

 statistics, if assembled, might indicate that environ- 

 ment conditioned inventiveness, or that one section 

 dominated all others in the number of its innovators. 

 Drawing skills, draftsmanship, and artistic ability, 

 in the society as a whole, can be estimated. It is even 

 possible to study the conduct and machinery of a 

 vast 19th-century editorial and publishing operation 



carried out by the Commissioner of Patents with 

 knowledge of its routines, administrators, editors, and 



artists easily obtainable. 



Patents and a Changing Technology 



If it is debatable that the patent records do or do 

 not suggest a favorable public attitude toward in- 

 dustrialization and improvement, it is surely un- 

 questionable that they can indicate to the historian 

 the Nation's technical level, capabilities, and accom- 

 plishments, both statistically and pictorially. Also, 



PAPER 48: UNITED STATES PATENTS NEW USES FOR OLD IDEAS 



121 



