68o 



NATURE 



[February i8, 191 5 



It is, then, by such a scheme as is here outlined 

 that the scientific army of the nation can be 

 marshalled to meet the present national emer- 

 gency, but there is yet another aspect which will 

 require immediate attention if we are to carry on 

 the work" without unnecessary hindrance. 



One of the chief differences between the German 

 and English patent laws is that while in this 

 country a patent specification is held to be 

 addressed to a person skilled in the art, say, to 

 a skilled workman, in Germany it is sufficient if 

 it is understood by an expert. This factor, apart 

 from any intention to deceive on the part of the 

 patentee, is responsible for the frequent "insuffi- 

 ciency of patent specification " which character- 

 ises both German patent specifications, as well as 

 British specifications based upon German inven- 

 tions. It is, indeed, very rare to have a German 

 patent granted on the full text of the specification 

 which was originally submitted to the German 

 Patent Office. The outcome of this is that when 

 the invention has been found novel and patentable 

 by the examiner, the specification is promptly cut 

 down and stripped of all such matter as he con- 

 siders to be more or less obvious to an expert. 



Again, the high cost of legal procedure in this 

 country, and the fact that the Comptroller has 

 no power to refuse the grant of a British patent 

 for alleged insuflficiency or want of subject matter, 

 are responsible for the obtaining, particularly on 

 the part of large German chemical companies, of 

 a great number of "block" patents, the whole 

 object of which is to block the development of 

 chemical industry in this country. 



It is certain that a good many chemists and 

 chemical manufacturers are fully aware of the 

 fact that a large number of British patents granted 

 to Germans are merely "bluff," and could readily 

 be invalidated were it not for the exceeding high 

 cost connected in this country with such legal 

 procedure; it is for this reason, also, that many 

 small inventors stand absolutely no chance against 

 large companies, which, in view of the high cost, 

 are alone able to go before the Court. 



Under Section 27 of the Patent Act an effort 

 has been made to enforce the manufacture of 

 patented inventions in this country by what is 

 generally known as the " compulsory working " 

 clause. It seems to be now admitted that this 

 arrangement has not worked in practice, and its 

 failure is due mainly to the lack of organisation, in 

 this country, of the scientific ability which is vital 

 to all modern industries. 



In conclusion, I should add that I am indebted 

 to Mr. J. E. Pollak, of the firm of Messrs. Dicker, 

 Pollak, and Derrimann for the above information 

 respecting the working of the patent laws. 



JocELVx Thorpe. 



NOTES. 



We regret to see the announcement of the death on 

 January 24, at seventy-six years of age, of the astro- 

 nomer, Prof. G. F. J. Arthur Auwers, of Berlin, 

 foreign member of the Royal Society and associate of 

 the Royal Astronomical Society. 

 ATO ^2^/1 VOT.. Oa1 



Dr, T. Wesley Mills, emeritus professor of physio- 

 logy, McGill University, Montreal, died suddenly in 

 London on February' 14. 



The council of the British Medical Association has 

 decided that the annual meeting, which was to have 

 been held at Cambridge this summer, shall not take 

 place. The statutory annual general meeting of the 

 association, and the annual meeting of representatives 

 will, however, be held. 



Good progress is being made, says the Pioneer 

 Mail, with the scheme for the establishment of a 

 School of Tropical Medicine in Calcutta, with which 

 the name of Sir Leonard Rogers is associated. An 

 excellent site has been secured close to the Calcutta 

 Medical College, and the buildings are in course of 

 erection. The first subscription list shows that a lakh 

 and three-quarter rupees has been obtained alreadv, 

 and another half-lakh is practically secure. 



M. Louis MoissAN, son of the late Prof. Henri 

 Moissan, and assistant at the Ecole sup^rieure de 

 Pharmacie at Paris, who died on the field of battle 

 on August 10, has left to his school, in addition to 

 the scientific estate of his father, the capital sum of 

 200,000 francs for the foundation of two prizes— one 

 for chemistry (prix Moissan), and one for pharmacy 

 (prIx Lugan), In memory respectively of his father and 

 his mother, nde Lugan. 



The Royal Astronomical Society has taken the first 

 step towards placing Itself In line with a number of 

 other scientific societies by deciding at the anniversary 

 meeting on Friday last, February 12, "That this 

 meeting approves of the admission of women as 

 Fellows and Associates of the Society, and requests 

 that all steps necessary may be taken to make their 

 election possible." The meeting was almost unani- 

 mously In favour of the proposal — fift}'-nlne fellows 

 voting for it to three against— and a supplementary 

 charter will now be applied for in order to put the 

 resolution into force. 



At Its annual meeting, held in Saint Louis on 

 December 28 last, the Federation of American Societies 

 for Experimental Biology — which includes the Physio- 

 logical Society, the Society of Biological Chemists, the 

 Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Thera- 

 peutics, and the Society for Experimental Pathology — 

 passed the following resolution addressed to the men 

 of science belonging to the nations of Europe now at 

 war: — "That we extend to the scientific men within 

 these nations the hope of an early and enduring peace, 

 which will leave the nations with no permanent cause 

 of rancour towards each other, and which will ensure 

 to each the glories of scientific and humanitarian 

 achievement In accordance with its own conception 

 of these ideals." 



The council of the Royal College of Surgeons has 

 given permission to the Royal Anthropological Insti- 

 tute and Prehistoric Society of East Anglia to hold a 

 combined meeting in the museum and theatre of the 

 college, Lincoln's Inn Fields, \\'.C., on the afternoon 

 of February 2^. Many recently discovered specimens 

 will be shown and discussed, proceedings commencing 

 at 2.30. An evening meeting will be held on the same 



