SH 



NATURE 



[August i, 1907 



problems, but if attempts are made to force it to inter- 

 pret fases that do not bclonjj to its proper field of 

 action, especially in regard to dissociation in the germ- 

 cells, harm rather than good may temporarily result." 

 " It seems arbitrary to speak of unit characters as 

 immutable and quite unnecessary to make this idea 

 a cardinal point of the mutation theory." "On the 

 mutation theory selection destroys species; it does 

 not originate them." "Admitting that all eggs and 

 all sperm carry the material basis that can produce 

 both the male and female, the two conditions being 

 mutually exckisive when development occurs, the 

 immediate problem of sex determination resolves itself 

 into a study of the conditions that in each species regu- 

 late the development of one or the other sex. It seems 

 not improbable that this regulation is different in 

 different species, and that, therefore, it is futile to 

 search for any principle of sex determination that is 

 universal for all species with separate sexes; for while 

 the fundamental internal change that stands for the 

 malci or the female condition may be the same in all 

 unisexual forms, the factor that determines which of 

 the alternate states is realised mav be very different 

 in different species." 



We may be allowed to compliment the author on his 

 highly successful execution of an arduous task; his 

 workmanship is marked by carefulness, lucidity, and 

 impartiality, by the salt of good-tempered criticism, 

 and by a stimulating suggestion throughout that the 

 whole business of experimental zoology is only begin- 

 ning. J. A. T. 



BOOKS ON PATENT LAW. 



(1) The Inventors' Guide to Patent Law and the New 

 Practice. By J. Roberts. Pp. viii + 109. (London: 

 John Murray, 1006.) Price li. net. 



(2) Notes on the New Practice at the Patent Office. 

 By J. Roberts. Pp. 32. (London : Eyre and .Spot- 

 tiswoode, Ltd., n.d.) Price i.'j. 



(i) ' I 'HIS book is intended to give inventors an ex- 

 J- planation of the law and rules relating to the 

 grant of patents in the L'nited Kingdom, and inform- 

 ation as to the proper manner of protecting inventions. 

 The book is to a great extent an abstract from the 

 larger book of Mr. Roberts, and, as a guide to the 

 student of patent law, should be extremely useful. 

 In addition to the parts of the book dealing directly 

 with the Patent law, information is given specially 

 for the use of an inventor who is in possession of an 

 invention which he considers it desirable to protect; 

 but the ordinary inventor, even with this book in his 

 hand, would meet with considerable difficulty in draft- 

 ing his specification in the best manner. It is fre- 

 quently noticed that inventors themselves are quite 

 unable to appreciate and describe what is the real 

 point of their invention ; and this difficulty cannot be 

 met by any guide-book. The various matters dealt 

 with in the book comprise practically the whole of the 

 Patent Law, and the questions of the application for a 

 patent, and procedure at the Patent Office, as well as 

 proceedings for infringement, and other proceedings, 

 on a patent already granted, are all referred to, and 

 references given to other works in which fuller in- 

 formation is contained. 



It is, of course, impossible in such a small space — 

 about one hundred pages — to give any full account of 

 NO. 1970, VOL. 76] 



the Patent Law, and Mr. Roberts has perhaps given 

 as much information as possible in the space at his 

 disposal. The reader, however, will have to refer to 

 the larger works to get any clear ideas on the different 

 points dealt with. It is impossible, for instance, to 

 explain the difference between patentable and non- 

 patentable inventions in a few pages. Every parti- 

 cular case must be judged on its own merits, and re- 

 ference to a few cases is of little or no use on the 

 question of sufficiency of invention. 



-At the end of the book, the Patents Act, 1902, is 

 fully set out, together with the rules made under the 

 Act. An index is given which appears to be fairly 

 complete. 



(2) This publication deals shortly with the alter- 

 ations in the Patent Law introduced ty the Patents' 

 Act of 1902, and the rules made under that Act. The 

 effect of the new provisions is given very clearly, and 

 certain controversial points arising on the construc- 

 tion of the -Act and the rules are very fully dealt with. 

 .\mong these may be mentioned the question of post- 

 dating the specification, which is the subject of Rule 5 

 of J905. This rule gives the comptroller power to 

 post-date the application, and this power, if used 

 against the applicant, is no doubt outside the scope 

 of the .Act of iqo2. There is, however, little reason to 

 suppose that the rule will be exercised by the comp- 

 troller to the prejudice of an applicant, and in practice 

 the applicant may find the power of the comptroller to 

 post-date extrem.ely convenient in cases where he is 

 unable to meet the Patent Office objections within the 

 prescribed time. 



.Another point very fully dealt with is the question 

 of the meaning to be given to the words " in part 

 described " in Section i of the Act of 1902. The 

 author suggests that these words should be narrowly 

 read, and that the words " partly described " should 

 me^n that part of the invention as claimed by the 

 applicant has already been described, so that one 

 claim at least includes what is old. This is a reason- 

 able construction, and is practically that adopted by 

 the Office under the new practice. 



The author also deals with the question of the 

 compulsory insertion of references at the instance of 

 the comptroller, and the form in which the reference 

 is to be inserted. In the Act of 1902 there is an 

 ambiguity as to whether the comptroller should have 

 power to settle the form of the reference or whether 

 he could decide only what specifications should be 

 referred to. The view taken by the Patent Office is 

 that they are entitled to settle the form, but the author 

 does not consider they are justified in this interpret- 

 ation. The official view, however, does not really 

 cause any hardship to the patentee, as if there is really 

 an invention the specification can be quite well drafted 

 in such a way that all necessity for the compulsory 

 reference is avoided, and the officials at the Patent 

 Office always give great facilities for amendment to 

 define the invention more clearly, if there is any inven- 

 tion of any sort contained in the application. 



Mr. Roberts's notes give a very clear idea of the 

 changes introduced in the Patent Law by the new Act 

 and rules. 



