96 
NATURE 
[Sune 2, 1870 
as the title-deeds of any kind of property. The commissioners 
to be selected by the Privy Council from among men who are 
intimately acquainted with the arts and the sciences. I would 
extend the term of the patent to twenty years, and make the cost 
payable in four periods of five years, charging 50/. for each. 
This also might tend to restrict the number of patents applied for. 
I would leave the granting of licenses entirely to the patentee. 
It may suit his convenience to carry on the manufacture of his 
invention himself, better than to grant licenses to others to 
oppose him ; and if he has the monopoly conferred upon him, 
he ought to be allowed to make use of it as he thinks proper. 
You have no more right to demand that a monopolist should 
grant a license than I have to drive my cattle into my 
neighbour’s field. It appears to me to be absolutely impossible 
to fix the price for royalty on the granting of a patent ; that, 
of course, must altogether depend upon the value of the inven- 
tion, which cannot possibly be ascertained until some years 
after the patent is granted. We might as well attempt to fix 
the price for ten years of any commodity sold by shopkeepers, 
or of land to be sold. I propose to grant patents for inventions, 
whether they are made by foreigners or British subjects. I 
would propose the infliction of imprisonment in the case of any 
one infringing a patent, and having previously been convicted 
of the same offence. If this remedy were adopted we should 
have fewer rogues to deal with in patent cases, and the inventor 
might have the enjoyment of his monopoly. Since I began my 
proposed amendment of the patent laws in 1848, I have had 
more dishonesty to contend with than I hope may ever fall to 
the lot of any patentee. I have had fourteen years’ litigation in 
defending the patent for my invention ‘‘for laying down sub- 
marine cables” against infringement, by Glass and Elliot, the 
Telegraph Construction Company, and others. Instead of being 
rewarded for a most valuable invention, without which the 
Atlantic, Indian, and other cables could not have been laid 
down, I have had to spend years in attending to law, and the 
expenses have amounted to thousands of pounds, whilst the 
pirates haye made large fortunes by means of my invention. 
PHILADELPHIA 
American Philosophical Society, April 15.—-Prof. Cope 
exhibited the greater part of the skeleton of an extinct croco- 
dilian from the Cretaceous Greensand of New Jersey, which 
represented a new species of the genus Boftosomus, which he 
called B. tuberculatus. It displayed marked characters of the 
genus not before ascertained. Dr. Hayden called attention to 
numerous points in the topography and geology of the Rocky 
Mountain region, exhibiting photographs in illustration of them, 
May 6.—A paper by Prof. Alex. Winchell, of the Univer- 
sity of Michigan, was read, entitled, ‘‘On the Geological 
Character and Equivalents of the Marshall Group in the 
United States.”—An obituary notice of Horace Binney, jun., 
was read by Prof. C. J. Stille—A description of some beads 
of complex construction found in an Indian grave on the 
Susquehanna River, in Pennsylvania, by Prof. S. S. Holde- 
man, was read by the Secretary. They were described as ovoid, 
apparently made from parts of four concentric cylinders of 
blue and white material, the blue ridged so as to give a striated 
appearance to the coloration.—Prof. Harrison Allen read a paper 
entitled, ‘‘Some effects of Age, as observed in the Osseous 
System,” illustrated by changes in the forms of the pterygoid 
ale, malar bone, &c.—Prof. Cope read a paper ‘‘ On the Fishes 
of the Tertiary Shales of Green River, Wyoming territory,” in 
which the fragment of the fauna described was indicated as pre- 
senting resemblances to that of Monte Bolca. Prof. Cope also 
exhibited the cranium of a Dicynodont reptile from the Cape 
Colony, which he regarded as new, and called it Zystrosaurus 
Jrontosus. The genus was near Ptychognathus, but differed in 
the horizontal shovel-like mandible received within the upper. 
The species was near the /*%. /atifrons (Owen). but differed in the 
breadth of cranium exceeding the length, great interorbital width, 
prominent orbital tuberosities, very narrow front, &c. He ex- 
hibited specimens of more or less imperfect tusks from the Trias of 
Pennsylvania, which he referred to Dicynodont reptiles. —Prof. F. 
V. Hayden communicated an essay on the stratigraphy of certain 
tertiary rocks on the line of the Pacific Railroad, including, 
among others, a section of a remarkable anticlinal in the basin 
of Utah. The strata exhibited in this section embrace two 
hundred distinct layers, varying from two inches to four feet in 
thickness. At the eastern extremity they are vertical, at the 
western they are bent in the form of a bow. It is a remarkable 
illustration of an arch unaffected by heat that Dr. Hayden had 
seen in the West. Some of the layers were composed of fossil 
shells, among others, Unio, Paludina, Corbula, &c. ; the species 
few, but the individuals numerous. 
DIARY 
THURSDAY, June 2. 
Linnean Society, at 8.—On some New Forms of Trichopterous Insects. 
Cuemicar Society, at 8.—On the Platinum Ammonias: Dr. Odling. 
Royat Institution, at 3.—Electricity : Prof. Tyndall. 
FRIDAY, June 3- 
Roya InstituTion, at 8.—Migration of Fables: Prof. Max Miiller. 
GeotocisTs’ AssociaATION, at 8. 
SATURDAY, June 4. 
Roya INsTITUTION, at 3.—Comets: Prof. Grant. as 
MONDAY, June 6. 
ENTOMOLOGICAL SocIETY, at 7. 
Lonpvon InsTiTuTION, at 4.—Botany: Prof. Bentley. 
TUESDAY, June 7. 
Royat INnsTITuTION, at 3.—Present English History: Prof. Seeley. 
ETHNOLOGICAL Society, at 8.30 (at the Museum of Practical Geology),— 
On the Geographical Distribution of the Chief Modifications of Mankind : 
Prof. Huxley. 
WEDNESDAY, June 8. 
GEOLOGICAL Society, at 8. 
Roya Microscoricat Society, at 8.—Experiments on Fermentation and 
Parasitic Fungi: John Bell.—A New Form cf Binocular Microscope: 
John W. Stephenson. 
THURSDAY, Juntg. 
ZOOLOGICAL SucIETY, at 8.30. 
MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY, at 8. — 
Roya InstiTuTION, at 3.—Electricity : Prof. Tyndall. 
BOOKS RECEIVED 
EnGutsu.—The Interior of the Earth: H. P. Malet (Hodder and Stough- 
ton.)—The Modern Practical Angler; H.C. Pennell (Warne and Co.).— 
Primitive Man: L. Figuier (Chapman and Hall).—Water Analysis: J. A. 
Wanklyn (Triibner and Co.).—Rustic Adornments for Homes of Taste: 
Shirley Hibberd, new edition (Groombridge and Co.).—The Student's Flora 
of the British Islands: Dr. J. D. Hooker (Macmillan and Co.). 
ForEIGN (through Williams and Norgate).—Die Pflanzenstoffe, zweite 
Lieferung: Dr. A. Husemann.—Précis de Paléontologie humaine: E. T. 
Hamy.—Die Gestaltung der Erdoberflache nach bestimmten Gesetzen: O. 
Reichenbach. 
CONTENTS Pace 
Wuence come Meteorites? By Pror. N.S. Maskeryng, F.R.S.. 77 
Wuart ts Enercy? II. By Dr. BALFour Stewart, F.RS. . . . 78 
Forms or ANIMAL Dare. TD sce (eS eee © = Yo ss 
Qur Book SHELF «ns. .6 = = «| heii eo i oe he ee 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR :— 
The New Natural History Museum, W. H. Fiower, F.R.S. . 83 
The “EnglishiGyclopedias™ on = «= ‘oi le «os cone 
ADMIRAL MANNERS [0072 Ye) cls fle = “sn © a ee 
Tue Primitive VEGETATION OF THE EARTH. (I¥ith Illustrations.) 
By PrincipAt Dawson, F.R:S.« 29 « 0.0 2 0 = « o = 88 
NOTES . « « 
On THE Procress oF BoTANY DURING 1869.—G. BenTHAM, F.R.S. . ox 
SuRFACE-OCEANIC LIFE (¢). @ 0 6 6 2 2 (bem 6 = of mie alge 
Screntiric SERIAES! Gmaune ce = % “6 delel oot ole eas 
SoOciRTIES AND ACADEMIES. . . « 2 + «© © « 6 Lag Rt le ie OR 
Diary AND BooKS*RECEIVAD . . . . © «=e = s = male » 190 
Oo wis come. 68s Ve) « Jb geet 6 (ose eee 
