366 ACTIVITY AT THE PATENT OFFICE AND IN SOCIETIES. 



Although my time was very much taken up with 

 my scientific work and my business, I yet never lost 

 my interest in the questions of public life. I was an 

 active member of several scientific and technical socie- 

 ties, took part both commercially and privately in the 

 great exhibitions, and was frequently appointed by the 

 government on special commissions for scientific and 

 technical questions. Of this multifarious activity I shall 

 here only cite a few instances, which appear to me 

 worthy of mention. 



When the Imperial patent law came into being, 

 substantially in accordance with my proposals, an 

 invitation was issued to me to assist the newly con- 

 stituted Patent Office at least for a number of years. 

 I willingly complied, in order to be enabled to secure 

 that the practical application should be in harmony 

 with the adopted principles of the patent law. In 

 this manner I obtained the rank of an official of the 

 Empire and as such was proposed by Prince Bismarck 

 for the title of "Privy Councillor". I gratefully ac- 

 cepted the same, as the bearing of a title in Prussia 

 is very general and my colleagues, the members of the 

 Academy of Sciences, for the most part bore it. 



I was an active member and for a number of 

 years deputy-chairman of the Association for the Pro- 

 motion of Industry, which was called into existence 

 by Beuth, the father of Prussian industry, and ren- 

 dered great service to the industrial development of 

 Germany under the many years' presidency of the 

 State Minister Delbrtick. 



