130 Imtructlons issued ly the "FVencli Legislature 



is seen between the knobs, until the moment of detonating the 

 second bottle. Ought not this fact to induce us to suspect that 

 the glass takes up a superabundance of fluid in what is called 

 the Lcyden charge? 



I am, &:c. 



July 10, 1815. Dk NeUS. 



XXXIV. Inslructions issued ly the French Legislature for 

 obtaining a Patent {Brevet d' Invention) in France*. 



Motives which gave rise to the System of Patents. 



At has been always admitted, that it was as just as it was use- 

 ful to the progress of the arts, to secure to inventers the pro- 

 perty of their discoveries ; but to accomplish this in an advan- 

 tageous manner for themselves and for the public was not so 

 easily arranged. Some wished that exclusive privileges should 

 be granted them, the duration of which should be unlimited, 

 while others thought that those privileges ought only to be tem- 

 porary. Lastly, according to a third opinion, it was preferable 

 to decree rewards to them, and to render their discoveries in- 

 stantly open to all. The administration frequently had recourse 

 to this plan ; but as it involved the state in considerable ex- 

 penses, and did not always satisfy inventers themselves, it was 

 necessary once more to inquire if there was any possibility of 

 conciliating all interests. This object was at length attained by 

 the laws of the 7th of January and 25th of May 1791, which 

 established brevets. Titles of this description now secure, on 

 tire one hand, to artists the exclusive enjoyment of their disco- 

 veries, and give on the other, at their expiration, a very important 

 guarantee, i. e. that of the preservation of several inventions, 

 which without this plan would be imperfectly known, if not hid 

 from the public altogether. 



Formalities to he observed by those who solicit Patents, and 

 Amount of the Sums ivhick they must pay. 



The patents delivered by the present French Government bear 

 no resemblance to the exclusive privileges which were obtained 

 under the ancient monarchy : they are merely a certificate given 

 to an individual, of the declaration which he makes of having 

 invented a machine, or a process, from the employment of which 



* Now that a free intercourse subsists between the two countries, it is 

 to bo presumed that these instructions will be found liighly useful to those 

 Bi'itisli pattnteos who wisli to extend tlieir invention, and secure the enao- 

 liiiucntb rciultjng fioni it in I'rancc. 



a new 



