IN MEDICINE, SURGERY, ETC. 617 



sioii: iVoiii llu- wliicli. as men oT courses do seek to rcccixc counteiiaiu'C 

 and ])r(>tit. so oiij^lit tli(\y of duly to endeavor lliciiiselvcs hy way ol' 

 jimeiids to be a lielp and oiiuimtMit tbercuiito/" 



The rule, however, is not always adhered to by pliysicians, the most 

 uota.ble exception having- been, i)erbaps, the use of Koch's lymph 

 before its comiwsition was revealed. As regards the patenting of sur- 

 gical instruments and api)aratus, the opinion of the great majority of 

 l)hysieians is in accordaiice with the rule just stated, but there are 

 some who question its propriety, although they obey it — and there are 

 few who would not use a patented instrument in a case to which they 

 thought it was applicable. 



The total number of surgical iustruinents and a[)pliances patented 

 during- the past decade has been about J, 200, the patents having been 

 in almost all eases taken out by manufacturers. With these may be 

 classed dentists' tools and api^aratus, of which about TKIO have been 

 patented during the last ten years, and in this field of invention the 

 T'nited States leads the world. The same may be said with regard to 

 artilici;'.! lind)s, of whicli our great war gave rise to many varieties. 



As you know, the law inescribes that a patent may be given for a 

 "new and useful art, machine, manufacture or composition of matter.'' 

 1 used to think that the word ''■useful "in this law had its ordinary 

 meaning, and therefore wondered exceedingly as to why the Patent 

 Office examiners alloM^ed patents to certain things which came under 

 my notice. One day, however, I received an article from the Patent 

 Oflice, with the request for a report as t() whether it was usefnl in the 

 sense in which that word was used by the office, namely, " not per- 

 nicious or prejudicial to public interest — capable of being used"' — and 

 then for the first time T understood one of the first i^rinciples of the 

 l)atent law ot the United States, that is, that it does not take into con- 

 sideration the degree of utility in the dcA'ice, or, in other words, that 

 "useful '" means '^ harmless," 



If a patent is granted to a nn'dicine, it must be as a comixtsition of 

 matter as a special article of manufa(;ture. The practice of th(^ Patent 

 Oflice in these matters is not generally understood. It docs not now 

 consider that medical prescriptions are inventions within the mean- 

 ing of the law, or that a mere aggregation of well-known remedies to 

 obtain a cunmlati\(', efl'ect is a patentable composition of matter. A 

 certain number of claims for (iovernment protection in the form of 

 patents or trade-marks are made for medical compounds or for ai)paratus 

 under fiilse pretenses- that is to say, the claim is for a new rcimedy for 

 rheumatism or dyspepsia or displacement, Avith a Avar n in g against their 

 use under certain conditions, the real design being that they are to be 

 used under precisely these conditions in order to i^rocnre sibortion, etc. 

 These are sometimes difficult cases for the Patent Office to treat prop 

 erly, for the law does not allow a large discretion for refusal on mere 

 suspicion, and where there is ostensible and possible utility (in the 



