Jan. 20, 1887] 



NA TURE 



27: 



This collection hns been exhibited since 1S57 in the 

 iron building at South Kensington. 



Your Committee are of opinion that the term Patent 

 Museum (which is generally applied to this collection) 

 tends to give an erroneous impression as to its character 

 and object. 



V'arious suggestions have been made by witnesses re- 

 specting the nature of a Museum connected with the 

 mechanical arts, which may be summed up as follows : — 



{a) That it should illustrate the history of those arts 

 by a collection of original machines from an early period 

 to the present time. 



(/') That it should e.vhibit all known inventions respect- 

 ing machinery and manufactures. 



(c) That it should show the present state of all machin- 

 ery and manufactures. 



id) Some of the witnesses suggested that the collection 

 should be restricted to the machinery and manufactures 

 of the United Kingdom ; whilst others proposed that it 

 should be extended to those of foreign countries. 



((?) Some, again, proposed that the collection should 

 contain all the objects of each class, whilst others pro- 

 posed that a selection only of the most important objects 

 should be exhibited. 



(/) There was no less diversity of opinion respecting 

 the primary purpose for which any collection or exhibition 

 should be made ; some of the witnesses considered that 

 it should be for the purpose of conveying instruction in 

 the mechanical arts, either in a cursory way to people 

 who might visit the Museum, or to students in mechanics, 

 or to persons desirous of applying themselves to the dis- 

 covery of improvements in machinery and manufactures. 



(_§■) Other witnesses deemed the Museum chiefly desir- 

 able for the information of persons intending to take out 

 or purchase patents, in aid of the information afforded by 

 booKS and specifications, to assist them in ascertaining 

 whether the contemplated patent would be valid as a new 

 invention. 



{Ii) On the other hand, two witnesses, Mr. Carpmael 

 and Mr. Johnson, gave it as their opinion that for all 

 purposes of the patent law a museum of models would be 

 practically valueless. 



Your Committee are of opinion that any special collec- 

 tion of patented inventions made for the purpose of 

 evidence, illustration, or record of patent rights is not so 

 connected with a general museum of mechanical inven- 

 tions as to render the neighbourhood of such a museum 

 to a patent office and library, or law courts, necessary. 



It appears to your Committee that the chief purpose of 

 a general museum is to illustrate and explain the com- 

 mencement, progress, and present position of the most 

 important branches of mechanical invention ; to show the 

 chief steps by which the most remarkable machines have 

 reached their present degree of excellence ; to convey 

 interesting and useful information, and to stimulate 

 invention. 



In forming an illustrative collection of inventions it 

 would be necessary to adopt the principle of selection. 

 This, however, does not appear to your Committee to be 

 an insuperable objection, especially as no one proposed 

 to substitute models for specifications, which for all the 

 purposes of administering the patent law would still have 

 to be consulted, and bear the stamp of authority. 



Such a collection should contain a selection of models 

 of moderate size, which should illustrate different depart- 

 ments of inventions, and also a selection of models of 

 current patented inventions. 



The Patent Collection, although it was placed in 

 premises belonging to the South Kensington Museum, 

 remained in the hands of the Commissioners of Patents 

 until January I, 18S4, when, by the " Patents, Designs, 

 and Trade Marks Act, 1SS3," 46 and 47 Vict. c. 57, it was 

 transferred to the Science and Art Department. 



The title '"Patent .Museum" was never accurate ; the 

 collection might with greater propriety have been called 

 the " Woodcroft Museum," from the name of the gentle- 

 man, formerly Clerk to the Commissioners of Patents, 

 who originated the formation of it. It contains objects 

 illustrating steps in the history of mechanical inventions, 

 and contrivances of importance and interest, without 

 regard to whether they have been patented or not. 

 Among these, for example, are the earliest locomotive 

 and stationary steam-engines ; the first engine used in 

 steam navigation ; the first reaping-machine ; Arkwright's 

 original spinning-machinery ; all Sir Charles Wheat- 

 stone's original apparatus, showing a complete history of 

 the various steps by which he perfected electric tele- 

 graphy ; many of Edison's original electrical inventions ; 

 some old clocks dating from 1325 ; and other objects of 

 similar interest. 



Inventions embodied in future patents may be added 

 to this Museum, pursuant to Sections 41 and 42 of the 

 Patent Act above mentioned. These sections enact as 

 follows : — 



(41) The control and management of the existing 

 Patent Museum and its contents shall, from and after 

 the commencement of this Act, be transferred to, and 

 vested in, the Department of Science and Art, subject to 

 such directions as Her Majesty in Council may see fit to 

 give. 



(42) The Department of Science and Art may at any 

 time require a patentee to furnish them with a model of 

 his invention, on payment to the patentee of the cost of 

 the manufacture of the model ; the amount to be settled 

 in case of dispute by the Board of Trade. 



We do not consider it to be feasible to combine a com- 

 plete museum of patented inventions with a methodical 

 collection of objects illustrating practical science, and we 

 infer from the language of Parliament in the provisions 

 just quoted that this is the view taken in the recent 

 Patent Act, which enables, but does not oblige, the De- 

 partment of Science and Art to acquire specimens of 

 patented inventions. 



26. We conceive that it will be useful for the curators 

 of all the collections to bear in mind that their primary 

 and indispensable scope is to provide apparatus and 

 specimens for the instruction given in the Normal College 

 of Science, and for the teaching of science generally 

 throughout the United Kingdom. 



Cases may doubtless arise where the acquisition or 

 reception of other objects may be expedient, in the 

 interest of science or of the arts ; but in these cases, in 

 order to prevent the unnecessary occupation of space, we 

 recommend that due regard be had to existing public 

 collections elsewhere, so as not unnecessarily to duplicate 

 the provision for illustrating science. 



27. Referring now to the space required, we adopt the 

 following figures given by the Reports of the different 

 Committees, adding some estimates for the future where 

 thev hdve not been stated : — 



Estimated Space 



increas; of required 



Space now space re- at the 



required quired in end of 



ten years ten years 



Sq. ft. Sq. ft. Sq. ft. 



Various science collections ... . 37,003 3,009 40,000 



Naval models 10,500 io,003 20,500 



Building construction 15,000 io,ooo 25,000 



Fish culture 5, 000 1,000 6,000 



Educational collection and library 7,500 1,000 8,500 



Mechanical collections 45, 000 15,000 60,000 



120,000 40,000 160,000 



In framing their estimates, the Committees generally 

 took, as the basis of their computation, top-lighted gal- 

 leries 30 feet wide, which afford a large amount of well- 



