014 AMERICAN INVENTIONS 



tlie tspeciticatious of most of tlioso is.sue(l bcfoic ls;>(j liad been lost l)y 

 (ire.. Tlie greater iiuiiiber of i)iiteiits for medicines were, issued between 

 IS.IO and 1860. The total number of patents liranted for medieines 

 during- the last decade (KSS(>-1,S!»0) is 540.* 



This, however, applies onl>- to ''•i)atent medicines," jnoperly so called, 

 the claims for which are, for the most iiart, presented by simple-minded 

 men who know very little of the ways of the world. A patent requires 

 a full and unreserved disclosure of the recipe, and the mode of com- 

 l)ouuding the same, for the public benefit when the term of the patent 

 shall have expired ; and the Commissioner of Patents may, if he chooses, 

 require the applicant to furnish specimens of the composition ami of its 

 ingredients, sufficient in quantity for the purpose of experinu'ut. The 

 law, however, does not recjuire the applicant to furnish patients to be 

 experimented on, and this may be the reason why the Commissioner 

 has never demanded sami)les of the ingredients. By far the greater 

 number of the owners of jianaceas and nostrums are too shrewd to thus 

 publish their secrets, for they can attain their purpose much better 

 under the law for registering trade-marks and labels, designs for bot- 

 tles and ])ackages, and copyrights of printed matter, which are less 

 costly, and do not reveal the arcanum. 



These proprietary medicines constitute the great bulk of what the 

 public call "patent medicines.'' 



The trade in patent and secret remedies has been, and still is, an 

 important one. We are a bitters-and pill-taking people; in the fried 

 pork and saleratus biscuit regions the demand for such medicines is 

 unfailing, but everywhere they are found. I suppose the chief con- 

 sumption of them is by women and children — with a fair allowance of 

 clergymen, if we may judge from the printed testimonials. I sampled 

 a good many of them myself when I was a boy. Of course, these 

 remarks do not apply to bitters. One of the latest patents is for a 

 device to wash pills rapidly down the throat. 



According to the census of 1880 there were in the United States 592 

 establishments devoted to the numufacture of drugs and chemicals, the 

 capital invested being $28,598,458, andtheannual value of the product 

 '$38,173,658, while there were 563 establishments devoted to the man- 

 ufacture of i)atent medicines and compounds, the capital invested 

 being $10,620,880, and the value of the product, $14,682,494.1 



A patent automatic doctor, on the princii)le of "put a quarter in the 

 slot and take out the pill which suits your case," has been proposed, 

 but this patent is said to be of Dutch sind not of American origin. The 

 idea of this may have come from Japan, for an old medicine case from 

 that country which I i)ossess has four compartments filled with pills, 



and the label says that those in the first compartment are good for all 



•_ [ 



*For these figures, and other data used in this paper I iim iiidchted to my friend 

 Mr. H. H. Bates, Examiner in Chief, in the Patent Office. 

 t See the Umcit, October 5, 1889, ji. 68.3. 



