November ii, 1922] 



NA TURE 



633 



Mr. Wilkinson also points out in his paper the 

 necessity for the basilar membrane being continuous. 

 If the fibres had gaps between them, no regular 

 loading of the vibrating elements would be possible. 

 W. AI. Bayliss. 

 University of London, University College, 

 Gower Street, W.C.i. 



The description of Dr. Wilkinson's model of the 

 cochlea in Nature (October 21, p. 559) recalls Dr. 

 Yoshii's experiments on guinea-pigs. Yoshii operated 

 with long-sustained notes from whistles of different 

 pitches, and concluded from the resulting lesions in 

 the organ of Corti that the pitch of the note deter- 

 mines the region of maximal displacement of the 

 basilar membrane. But as he used the same pressure 

 to blow the different whistles (Zeitschr. f. Ohrenheil- 

 kunde, 58, 1909, p. 205), the product arir had .1 

 constant value, i.e. the greater the frequency of the 

 note employed, the less the amplitude of its vibra- 

 tions, which shows at once that Yoshii's results do 

 not support his conclusions. If Dr. Wilkinson's 

 model of the cochlea is a good one, it will show that 

 the locus of maximal vibration in the basilar mem- 

 brane for a given note shifts toward the distal end 

 when the intensity of that note is increased, and 

 toward the fenestral end when its intensity is dimin- 

 ished ; and will thus demonstrate once again that the 

 principle of resonance can find no application in the 

 internal ear. W. Perrett. 



University of London, University College, 



Gower Street, W.C.i, " 



October 26. 



An Empire Patent. 



In the article appearing in Nature for September 

 30, p. 437, with the above heading, there is the under- 

 lying assumption that the status of the inventor 

 should be assimilated to that of the author, namely, 

 that both should be secured a world-wide monopoly 

 at a minimum expenditure. Will you allow me to 

 present in your columns a more philosophical view of 

 the history and function of patent law in relation to 

 the growth and decay of civilisation, from which it 

 will be seen that the favourable treatment of the 

 inventor cannot be based upon international prin- 

 ciples. It is part and parcel of a purely national and 

 competitive policy. 



The processes by which the characteristics of a 

 higher civilisation are transmitted to races of lower 

 culture appear to be based ultimately upon biological 

 laws. Pressure generated within the walls of the 

 higher civilisation drives out its more enterprising 

 citizens to seek their fortunes elsewhere, and the new 

 colonists, by interbreeding with the native stock, 

 impart to it their own superior characteristics. The 

 outward forces tending to the disruption of the older 

 organisation may be economic, religious, or political, 

 or some combination of these. The process may 

 occupy centuries or be accomplished within as many 

 decades. Thus the industrialisation of the English 

 occupied many centuries — the periods of advance in 

 the reigns of Edward III., Elizabeth, and Charles II. 

 being associated with large influxes of the industrial 

 population of the Continent. On the other hand, 

 the rapid rise of the United States to the rank of a 

 first-class power has been the work of the past fifty 

 years. In both these instances national development 

 was preceded by conditions which favoured the intro- 

 duction and assimilation of a higher strain from 

 abroad. Maintaining a civilisation at a high level in 



NO. 2767, VOL. I IO] 



turn rests upon its compliance with the same bio- 

 logical law. 



Talent and enterprise are the natural monopoly of 

 a relatively small fraction of the human race. These 

 characteristics are transmitted by direct descent, 

 reproducing themselves in successive generations. 

 How closely the fortunes of an industry may be 

 associated with particular family names — notwith- 

 standing the dilution which each family undergoes by 

 marriage — is not sufficiently recognised. It has, for 

 example, been shown recently that iron founding was 

 introduced into this country by a body of French 

 workers in the reign of Henry VII. A leading family 

 which came in at this period were the Leonards, 

 members of which migrated to the United States in 

 the seventeenth century ; whence the saying arose, 

 that " where you find ironworks there you find a 

 Leonard." But there is some reason to suppose that 

 the French iron-founders originally came from Italy. 

 Hence the Leonardos, Lennards, or Leonards may 

 trace their connexion with this industry perhaps for 

 500 years. This reappearance of the same char- 

 acteristics in successive generations of a family, and 

 the predominance of the imported families in the 

 higher ranks of culture — other than that of adminis- 

 tration — can be verified by reference to the National 

 Directories. A Stirling is generally an engineer, a 

 Hochstetter a mineralogist, a Matthiessen a physicist. 

 These families form a cosmopolitan body whose 

 services can be enlisted by any country which 

 possesses the power and foresight to attract them. 

 Thus the maintenance of a civilisation depends 

 upon its power to retain the services of its best native 

 stock, while constantly reinforcing it from outside 

 sources. 



A I an early period in the history of this country, 

 bringing in companies of skilled artisans from abroad 

 became an accepted feature in the exercise of the 

 Royal prerogative. In the reign of Elizabeth a new 

 feature was introduced, whereby, in addition to the 

 Royal protection and favour, an exclusive right of 

 manufacture was granted to any institutor of a 

 manufacture not in use within the realm at the date 

 of the Letters Patent. This system, though opposed 

 to the tenets of the Common Law, received a grudg- 

 ing recognition in the Statute of Monopolies in 

 1624. Under this Statute the rights of the native 

 inventor rested on the fact of his profession that he 

 was willing and able to institute a new industry. 

 The efficacy of the law rested upon two principles : 

 that it attracted foreign strains of inventive ability, 

 while stimulating that of the native inventor. 

 Anthropologists are agreed that there is a fairly equal 

 distribution of ability in different races. The 

 English Crown recognised the deficiency in native 

 stock and made good its defects by selective racial 

 interbreeding. 



The first blow to the efficiency of the English 

 patent system was struck in the last quarter of the 

 eighteenth century by a judge of the King's Bench. 

 It is well known that there is a remarkable hiatus in 

 the continuity of patent law decisions for the century 

 and a half subsequent to the Statute of Monopolies. 

 The reason for this is now clear. The Crown, not- 

 withstanding the provisions of the above Statute, 

 successfully maintained the right of disposing of its 

 own grants by constituting the Privy Council the 

 Court before which alone the validity of patent rights 

 could be adjudicated. In spite of the more than 

 doubtful character of its jurisdiction, the Council 

 proved a most competent and business-like tribunal. 

 It never lost sight of the real o"bject of the law. 

 Hence proposals for instituting new industries were 

 not allowed to drop if a suitable applicant for the 



