344 THE SCIENTIFIC PAPP2RS OF 



and he believed that Sir Joseph Whitworth fully maintained its 

 superiority. Practical difficulties would no doubt present them- 

 selves in the first instance, but these were not insuperable, and 

 judging from the absence of the authorities who advocated the 

 muzzle-loading gun, he was disposed to conclude that it was beat- 

 ins: a retreat. 



In the. discussion which took place at the Special Meeting 

 " ON THE PATENT LAWS," 



MR. C. "W. SIEMENS* supported the resolution, and observed 

 that the patent bill under discussion had done good in one respect, 

 in showing to many somewhat impatient friends of the patent 

 cause that there was a really valuable patent law in this country, 

 which, though it might be susceptible of improvement in detail, 

 contained important provisions that distinguished it from those of 

 other countries. The opposition that had been raised to the pro- 

 visions of the proposed bill had also shown so very plainly how 

 difficult it would be to go on without patents, that it might be 

 anticipated some other bill Avould be introduced at a future time 

 which would not attempt to undermine the patent laws, but would . 

 be conceived with a view to improve them. In that case all 

 friends of industrial progress would, he was sure, support tlie 

 measure. The most difficult point for consideration was that of 

 preliminary examinations ; and looking to the working of the 

 system in other countries, it was seen that in the United States it 

 existed with a bias in favour of inventions, the legislature favoured 

 the applicant, and if any abuses arose they were inherent in the 

 system of examination combined with the power of rejection. In 

 Prussia, on the other hand, there was a system of examination 

 with a bias against the patent altogether. It appeared to him 

 that under the provisions of the present bill the examinations 



* Excerpt Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 

 1875, pp. 179,180. 



