1S44. 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



89 



application of certain vessels for preserving fruit anil other articles of provi- 

 sion; and, si'condly, to a moile of stopping the vessels containing the fruit. 

 S^c. with corks or bungs. In carrying out the first part of these supp^seJ 

 imiirovements, the patentee, for the purpose of atlbriling greater facility to 

 private families in preserving meats, constructs a vessel of iwo or more parts 

 made to fit one another, so that the vessel can he enlarged or diminished ac- 

 cording to the size of a jar. containing tlie fruits or other matters to be pre- 

 served to be placed within it. This vessel is made at the lower end to fit an 

 aperture, formed in the boiler of an ordinary kitchen range, so tliat tlie steam 

 generated in such boiler can be turned to some useful account ; this vessel is 

 provided with a perforated bottom in order to allow the steam from the boiler to 

 pass into the same ; the jars containing the fruit or other article of food in- 

 tended to be partially cooked, are successively placed within the aforesaid 

 vessel, ami subjected to the steaming process, when they have remained a 

 sufhcient length of time, the jars or vessels containing the fruit, which ara 

 made with a conical neck or opening, are to be tightly corked wiih as much 

 expedition as pcjssihle, for this purpose the inventor forces the corks or bungs 

 into the necks of the jars by means of a screw, which constitutes the second 

 part of the invention ; and consists in the application of a screw to the cork 

 or bung, similar to lliat used in an ordinary screw press, this screw is to Ijc 

 kept constantly applied to the stoppers of the vessels until the contents are 

 nearly rool. The patentee claims the mode ot" constructing a vessel or vessels 

 in such manner that they may be applied to the boiler of , an ordinary kitchen 

 range, in order to preserve provisions in jarsby the application of steam ; and. 

 secondly, to a mode of constructing apparatus for stopping jars and securing 

 such stoppers till the contents of the vessels are cooled. 



MUNTZ'S MKTAL SHEATHING PATJ.^NT. 



In the Court of Common Pleas, Feb. 8 to 13. (Sittings at Nisi Prius, at Westminster, 

 before Lord Chief Justice Tindal and a Special Jnry.) 



MONTZ V. FOSTERfAND OTHEK8. 



The (rial of this cause, which lasted live days, commenced on Thursday, the 8th inst., 

 and L-oncluded on Tnesrlay evening, the 13th inst. about seven o'clock. 



The Attorney-General, the SoHcitor-General, Sir T. Wilde, IVIr. .Serjeant Bompas, fltr. 

 M. I). Hill, and Mr. Cowling were counsel for the plaintiff; and Mr. Kelly, fllr. Jervis, 

 Rlr. Serjeant Channell, and Mr. Webster appeared for the defendants. 



This action was brought for an alleged infringement of a patent granted on tlie 22d of 

 October, 183'J. tolMr. G. F. Muntz, M.P. for Birmingham, for '* an improved mainifactnre of 

 metal plates for .^.beatbiog the bottoms of ships and other such vessels.'* Copper sheath- 

 ing for ships was lately in such general use, tliat it may not be recollected by the major 

 part of the public tliat it was only about ,50 or 60 years ago that the practice of sheathing 

 tlie bottoms of vessels witll metal was introduced, in order to protect the bottom from the 

 barnacles and sea,veed which adhered to a rough sijrf^ce, and impeded fie sailing of the 

 vessel. E.xpensive as the process of copppring the bottom was, on account of the iirinie 

 cost of the metal, the expense of rolling it into sheets, and the corrosion to which the 

 metat was subjected by ttie action of sea w-ater, the use of copper was found to be attended 

 with this further inconvenience, viz., that being f.istened to the bottom of the ship with 

 iron nails, the iron very quickly rusted, the fastenings ceased to hold the metal, and the 

 copper came olf. Great as tliese drawtjacks against the use of copper for this purpose 

 were, the coppering of the bottoms of ships yielded advantages whicli more than counter- 

 balanced the inconveniences by which the process was attended, and in order to make the 

 invention still more useful Sir Humpliry Davy turned his attention to the subject, and en- 

 deavoured to devise some method for counteracting the raiiid oxydation which took place- 

 as formerly the copper bottom of a ship rarely lasted longer than live or six years. It 

 struck Sir H. Davy that if a portion of zinc were applied to the copper it would counteract 

 the process of oxydation, and a vessel sheathed with copper and zinc plates, in accordance 

 with bis theory, was sent a voyage to a distant part of the world, from which it returned 

 perfectly uninjured, so far as the bottom was concerned, by the salt water, but at the same 

 time it was as foul as if there had been no metal at all upon the bottom. The exjieriment 

 had succeeded too well; it had prevented any oxydation from taking place. The problem 

 therefore, still remained to be solved, whether any metallic composition could be found 



for the sheathing of ships, by the use of which the bottom could be kept clean, and at the 

 same time too great a degree of oxydation might he prevented. To the solution of this 

 problem I\[r. Monti, who Is a oietal roller at Birmingham, directed his mind, and com- 

 menced a series of practical experiments, for the results of which he took out a iiatent in 

 1832. The invention slowly but steadily attracted the notice of the shipping interest of 

 the country; and it appeared that in 1834, in the port of London, 30 sllips were sheathed 

 with metal under Bluiitz's patent, the number gradually increasing, till, in the year 18-13, 

 there were in tlie same port 3,'i7 vessels sheathed with tlie new composition, of which 

 17,947 cwt. were sold in the last mentioned year. The composition was a mixture of 

 copper and zinc, wiiicii was cheaper than copper, was more easily worked, and lasted 

 longer, being also sutBciently hard to allow of its beiog fastened to the sides of the ship 

 with nails of the same composition. 



The specification of tlie plaintiff's patent thus described the nature of his invention: — 

 " I take that quality of copper known to the trade liy the appellation of ' best selected 

 copper,' and that quality of zinc known in England as ' foreign zinc,' and melt them to- 

 gether in the usual manner, in any proportions between TiU per cent, of copper to 50 per 

 cent, of zinc, and liJ per cent, of copper to 37 per cent, of zinc, both of which extremes, 

 and all intermediate proportions, will roll at a red heat; but, as too large a proportion of 

 copper increases the difficulty of working the metal, and too large a proportion of zinc 

 renders tlie metal too hard when cold,Jand not sufficiently liable to oxydation, I prefer the 

 alloy to consist. of about 60 per cent, of copper to 40 per cent, of zinc." It was proved by 

 the testiniooy of several witnesses who were examined on the part of the plaintiff, and who 

 were not contr.adicted, that any person acquainted with the triide of a metal roller could 

 maiinf;ictnre this com]iosition from the description of the invention contained in the spe- 

 cdication ; and it appeared that between February and April, 1843, the defendants had 

 made a tiu.antity of sheathing, amounting in value to about 700;. or 800/,, some of which 

 was sold by them in Liverpool, and which was declared, ujion subjecting it to a minute 

 analysis, to be as nearly as possible composed of the same proportions of copper and zinc 

 as those pointed out in tlie plaintiff's specilication as the best alloy for the purpose, 

 namely, (in per cent, of copper and 40 per cent, of zinc. 



The defence set up was, that there had been no infringement of the patent ; that the 

 invention was not new, and that Mr. Bluntz was not the lirst and true inventor; and, also, 

 that the specification was bad for uncertainty, ^'c. Upon the ti-st point, the infringe- 

 ment, the evidence seemed very clear ; but the main ground of defence was, that in the 

 y^ar ISOO a Mr. Collins took out a patent for a composition for sheathing ships, which it 

 was argued was substantially the same invention as that which the plaintiff claimed as 

 his own. The specilication of Collius's patent said, " The yellow sheathing (the slieathing 

 in question) consists chiefly of zinc and copper. Tiie compound must be heated, and in 

 tliat state rolled. 100 parts of copper and 80 of zinc afford a good composition ; but the 

 proportions may be varied, or other metallic substances added, provided the property of 

 bearing the mechanical process, when added, is not destroyed," Evidence was given Ott 

 the part of the defendants to show that some of the metal slieathing made by them after 

 April, 1843, was made Irooi the specilication in Collins's patent alone, and several wit- 

 nesses were also called to prove, on their behalf, that a composition of copper and zinc, in 

 the proportion of 60 |ier cent, of the termer to 40 per cent, of the latter, had been made itl 

 the years 1828 and IS2U, but it did not appear that any plates of this composition had ever 

 been applied to the sheathing of ships. The defendants also raised various objections to 

 the stieeilication of the plaintiff's patent. 



Loid Chief Justice Tindal, before he proceeded to charge the jury, told them that if they 

 were desirous of hearing the whole of the evidence read over which had been given durio;; 

 the five days throunh which the trial had lasted, he sliould wish to take another day for 

 the purpose of reading it through, in order that he might save their time; but if, Imvlng 

 heard the evidence, to which they had pail great attenlinn, and having taken copious 

 notes, they did not require that assistance he would at once jirocced to call their attention 

 to the points on wliich they would have to give verdict. 



Tlie jury immediately said, that it would not he at all necessary for his Lordship to read 

 over the evidence to them. 



The Lord Chief Justice then left it to tlieni to say, In the first place, whether there had 

 been any iulringement of the p.itcnl granted to tho plaintiff, assuming the patent to be 

 good; secondly, if so, whether the manufacture was a new inve tion, or xvliether it had 

 been already made public by Collins's patent; and, tliirdly, whether the specilication of 

 the plaintiff's patent was sufficiently plain and intelligible to enable other persons to make 

 the composition for which the patent lad been Kiaiitcil. His Lordsliip al.io gave it aa 

 hi-i opinion, upon llie matters of law arising in the case, that the nature of the plaintiff '» 

 invention was well described by the title of the patent—" An improved manufacture of 

 metal jilates for sheathing the bottoms of ships or other sudi vessels ;" that neither " best 

 selected copper" nor " foreign zinc" formed part of the invention, which consisted in tha 

 discovery of a composition for sheathing by which a ]iroper decree of oxydation was ob- 

 tained, and no more ; that rolling the metal at a red he:it was not claimed as part of the 

 invention; and that the invention did not particularize any proportions but those of 60 

 per cent, of copper and 40 per cent, of zinc, as applicable for the purpose of making his 

 metallic slieathing, although he had designated other proportions between the extremes 

 of which the metals would melt at a red beat. 



Blr. KeUy tendered a long bill of exceptions to tills ruling. 



The jury retired at half-past six to consider tlictr verdict, and after an absence of about 

 ten minutes returned into court, and found for the plaintiff- Damages, 40s. 



MADDEN'S IMPROVED KNIPE CLEANEK. 



The accompanying engraving is a representation of a new 

 Knife Cleaner, Polisher, and Sharpener, the invention of Mr. 

 Madden, of George Street, Adelphi. It performs wh;it it 

 professes to do in a very ett'ectual manner, with one half the 

 labour and time by the old method, making no dust or noise. 

 The great merit of the invention is its compactness and jiorta- 

 bility. 



The machine is fixed upon a stand 12 in. long by 8 in.; it 

 consists of two parallel cheeks of iron, the intirior faces of 

 which are slightly bevilled, and lined with buff leather ; these 

 cheeks are pressed together by two springs by which they are 

 suspended : on the top of the cheeks is a groove to receive the 

 brick-dust. When a knife is to be cleiined, it is placed be- 

 tween the cheeks at one end, and drawn backwards and for- 

 wards, which causes a small portion of the brick-dust to drop 

 down, and by which means the knife is thoroughly cleaned. 



The price of the machine is 15s. 



