ON THE PATENT LAWS. 165 
_ of 1852 was mainly due; and made a report to the meeting of the British 
_ Association, held in Glasgow in the following year, when the subject of the 
tax on inventors and the appropriation of the funds so levied was fully dis- 
cussed ; and another committee, consisting of His Grace the Duke of Argyll, 
the Earl of Harrowby, Colonel Sabine, the Master of the Mint (Prof. 
Graham), Mr. Fairbairn and Mr. Webster, were appointed with similar 
powers. The Glasgow Committee addressed a memorial to the Lord Chan- 
cellor (Lord Cranworth), calling attention to the proceedings which had 
taken place at the various meetings of the British Association, to the nume- 
rous questions of administration and legislation then adverted to, or which 
might be expected to arise, and suggesting that Her Majesty should be ad- 
vised, in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Law Amendment 
Act, 1852, to appoint others than the official commissioners, and to make 
the working of that Act the subject of immediate inquiry. 
At the meeting of the British Association, held at Cheltenham in 1856, a 
committee, consisting of the Earl of Harrowby, Lord Stanley, M.P., Mr. 
Fairbairn, Prof. Graham, the Master of the Mint, Mr. James Heywood, 
Mr. Commissioner Hill, General Sabine, and Mr. Webster, were appointed 
with like powers; the Earl of Harrowby and Mr. James Heywood commu- 
nicated personally with the Lord Chancellor; the Lord Stanley took a warm 
interest in the subject, embodying his views on the necessary alterations in 
a published pamphlet; but up to this time the objects in view have not been 
attained, and it will be for this meeting of the British Association to consider 
what further steps should be taken. 
The printing and publication of the specifications has led to results which 
were hardly anticipated, as to which the following extract from a Report of 
the Commissioners of Patents in 1856, will be read with interest :— 
“The Commissioners of Patents have presented complete copies of all their 
publications to such of the government officers and seats of learning as have 
applied for them, and to the principal towns in the United Kingdom, on con- 
dition of their being daily open to the inspection of the public free of charge. 
In their selection of towns for this gift, they have been guided by the num- 
ber of applications for patents proceeding from each. 
“This gift has in most cases laid the foundation of public free libraries 
where none previously existed. In some instances, where the local authori- 
ties hesitated to accept the works on account of the incidental expenses, 
the custody has been solicited and temporarily undertaken by scientific in- 
stitutions, which have modified their by-laws to enable a free admission of 
the public daily to the library in which the works are deposited.” 
The same Report, after enumerating a list of the places which have received 
the works, says, “it is satisfactory to find that these national records of in- 
vention are especially consulted by that class whose skill in the improvement 
of manufactures is so essential to the maintenance of the commercial pros- 
perity of this kingdom ;” and adds the testimony of the librarians of several of 
the free libraries to the same effect. 
Complete sets of the Commissioners’ works have been sent to the Colonies ; 
to many Foreign States; to the Patent Office, Washington; to the Aster Li- 
brary, New York ; to the Franklin Institution of Pennsylvania; to the Public 
Free Library, Boston, U.S.; and the Honourable Charles Mason, Commis- 
sioner of Patents for the United States, addressing the Commissioners of 
Patents in this country, writes as follows :— 
“The admirable exampie you have set in publishing the specifications and 
drawings in full, and putting them on sale at a moderate price, so that all 
ean easily provide themselves with what they need for private use, will ere 
