104 OK THE IMPROVEMENT OF CHEMICAL AR'rS. May 2^^ 

 a great many troublelomc reltraints, that any patent 

 article mult engender. It would be greatly preferable 

 as to the nation at large, becaufe every patent mull be 

 laid open to foreigners, who have nothing elfe to do 

 than to get feme perfon in Britain to infpecl: the patent, 

 on their account. Thus can foreigners be better bene- 

 fited by any patent difcovcry in Britain, than the peo- 

 ple of this nation itfelf. 



If bleachers, callicoe printers, dyers, fmelters of me- 

 tals, glafs- makers, foap-makers, and all others who 

 are employed in chemical arts, were to form feparate 

 ailociations for this purpofe, and could they be brought 

 to ad with candour and liberality, it is impoffible to 

 form an idea of the improvements that miglit thus be 

 made in a few years in the manufuftures of this coun- 



In this Iketch, I have confined myfelfto the chemical 

 arts, b'.^caufe, in that line, moft remains to be done ; — 

 and becaufe chemical piocefles can be more cafily kept 

 fecret than any others. But there are, no doubt, other 

 departments that might be improved by the fame 

 means. 



Before an inftitution of this nature could be carried 

 into effcft, a great many particulars would require to 

 be adjufted, that I have not here mentioned. My ob- 

 jeft, in this difquifition, is merely to fuggeft a hint 

 that may be afterwards improved upon. 



The above having been communicated to a friend be- 

 fore it was fent to the prefs, he infilled, that it would 

 be proper to be a little more particular, were it only 

 with regard to one branch, fo as the better to Ihew the 

 pra£licability of the fcheme. In a general affociatioa 

 among many manufailurers, faid he, it does not feem 

 to be eafy to fix upon any flandard by which the a- 

 niount of the contributions of each individual member 

 or company could be nearly proportioned to the bene- 

 fits that each individual might derive from the fc<.iet 



