1854.] 



BKITISH EXPORTS FOR 1853 



67 



went strongly to sustain the pliantiffs' case — namely, that the produc- 

 tion of paraifine by the distillation of bituminous coal at a low heat 

 was a novelty, ami that it had not been obtained prior to the date of 

 the plaintiffs' patent. They were cross-examined on the part of the 

 defendants, with th" ricw of showing that the existence of parafiine in 

 bituminous coal was well known to scientific men, and described by 

 chemical writers, particularliy on the Continent, before the plaintiff's 

 discovery ; and the Bogliead Cannel or mineral was repeatedly refer- 

 red to, but it did not appear that any attempt had been made, on the 

 part of the plaintiffs to analyse the coal gas produced from it. It hav- 

 ing been shown that the per centage of paratfiue in Mr. Young's oil 

 was from 12 to 13 lbs. in the 40 gallons, or from 3 to 1 per cent., 

 and that Mr. White's contained only half the quantity, it was cudea- 

 vored'to be established that tliey could not be the same but it was 

 proved that the latter oil also froze solid on applying cold. 



The exclusive claim of the plaintiffs was strongly resisted, on the 

 part of the defendants, by reference to a uumber of scientific and 

 chemical works, English, Amei-ican, French, and German, proved to 

 have been in circulation in this country prior to 1850, all treating of 

 paraffine as a substance well known to chemists, the product of the 

 distillation of bituminous coal at alow temperature. It was also proved 

 to have been procured from AVigan Cannel coal tar, obtained from the 

 Salford Gas-works by the process recommended by Baron Reichen- 

 BACK in a work published in Germany, in 1833. It was insisted that 

 he was the original discoverer, and that he had also pointed out the 

 commercial application of this product, one of the purposes for 

 which he states it will be useful, being the lubrication of the wheels 

 of carriages. A specification for the manufacture of a nearly similar 

 substance had been lodged by M. Dn Buysox, 1845, and it was admitted 

 that he had produced it, but not commercially. It was then shown 

 that the Boghead mineral was first introduced to notice in the year 

 1850, and that paraffine had been extracted from the dead oil, of the 

 residum tar produced by it in the ordinary practice of gas manufac- 

 ture. It was stated that, from a ton of that coal, nearly 700 lbs. of 

 tar can be procured, and from 140 to 150 lbs. of paraiEne oil (about 15 

 gallons), and that from 13 to 20 per cent, of the paraffine oil so pro- 

 duced is pure paraffine. It was then proved that the heat best suited 

 to the process of making hydro-cai'bon gas was a white heat ; and that 

 there was not a very great distance between that and red heat, was 

 shown by the facts that the melting point of silver, 1280°, is a bright 

 red — that of copper, 1570°, almost a white heat. In addition to the 

 numerous publications relied on, several scientific witnesses were ex- 

 amined, on the part of the defendants, to displace the claim of origin- 

 ality asserted by the patentee, and the specification was strongly ob- 

 jected to. It was urged that, although the plaintiffs' patent was for 

 " improvements in the treatment of certain bituminous substances, and 

 in obtaining products therefrom," the only bituminous substance spec- 

 ified was coal. Distillation of coal was not new : the only novelty 

 was a low heat, and it was contended that the patent was defec- 

 tive in not specifying what was new and what was old. It was 

 understood that the legal objections, which were overruled, were to be 

 made the subject of a bill of exceptions for final adjudication by the 

 highest courts. 



The Chief .Justice Lord Cvjipbell, for the purpose of taking the 

 opinion of the juj'y, gave them a direction that the specification of the 

 plaintiffs' patent was sufficient, and he then left to them two questions 

 — first, whether that of the plaintiff was a new invention at the time 

 his patent was taken out, or whether his process was not at that time, 

 and previous to that time, known in England. Secondly, whether 

 the defendants had infringed that patent. The jury retired for some 

 time, and after, on their return, satingthat, in their opinion, the speci- 

 fication was suflicicnt, they answered the question in the affirmative — 

 that the invention was a novelty, and that there was an infringement. 

 A verdict was accordingly entered for the plaintiffs. — Mining Juurnal. 



Brltiiili Cxporta foi- 1853. 



A return has just been issued by the Board of Trade of the declared 

 values of British and Iri;>h produce and manufactures exported from 

 the united kingdom in the year 1853, specifying the amount to each 

 country and colony. From this documentthe following list has been com- 

 piled, showing the order in which the various communities of the world 

 rank ns our customers ; and one of the most ren\arkablo facts it presents 

 is, that, owing to the extraordinary increase of more than 10.000,000 

 in our consignments to .\ustrulin, our own possessions now take above 

 one-third of the entire amount, although the tfltal has reached 



£98,933,781, against £78,076,854 in 1852. The United States, in- 

 cluding California, likewise figui'e for a great increase— namely, from 

 i:l6,5lj7,737 in 1852 to £23,0.58,427, at which they now stand. It is 

 the augmentation in this case, indeed, coupled with that to our own 

 colonies, by wliich the comparison of the exports of the two years ex- 

 hibits so striking an improvement, since the aggregate of shipments to 

 all other countries has remained almost stationary, such slight 

 alteration as has taken place being in the direction of a decline. .Among 

 the British possessions which, next to Australia, continue to show an 

 cnlai-gement of trade, are India, Canada, the settlements of South 

 Africa, and Jlauritius. The West Indies remain stationary, and 

 Hongkong, owing to the Chinese insurrection, exhibits a considerable 

 falling off. Among the foreign countries our exports to which have 

 declined, are China, Brazil, France, Egyjit, Tuscany, Naples, the 

 republics of the River Plate, New Granada, Venezuela, Hayti, and 

 Greece. Turkey also shows a slight reduction, but she remains far 

 beyond Russia, although in the insignificant total to that country 

 there has been an increase, caused, probably, by extended purchases 

 towards the end of the year under the apprehension of a blockade. 

 With regard to other countries, those which present the most promi- 

 nent improvement — although, with the exception of Mexico, which 

 has advanced from £36(5,020 to £791,940, the variations generally have 

 not been of much magnitude — are Holland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, 

 Chilli, Peru, Denmark, and Sweden and Norway : — • 



" 1. British possessions — 



Australia £14,.51 3,700 



India 8,185,695 



North America 4,898,544 



"West Indies 1,906,6.39 



South Afi-ica 1,122,630 



Gibraltar 070,840 



Channel Islands 470,107 



Mauritius 385,879 



Hongkong 375,908 



Malta 297,906 



Ionian Islands 116,567 



Other possessions 347,787 



£33,382,202 



2. United States 23,658,472 



3. Germany — ■ 



Hanseatic Towns £7,093,314 



Prussia 579,588 



Hanover 472,179 



£8,145,081 



4. Holland 4,4.52,956 



5. Br.azil 3,186,407 



6. France 2,636,330 



7. Turkey — 



Turkey ;£2,029,.305 



Wallachia and Moldavia 179,510 



£2,208,815 



8. China 1,373,689 



9. Spain 1,468,357 



10. Belgium 1,371,817 



11. Portugal 1,335,382 



12. Chili 1,264,942 



13. Peru 1,246.7.30 



14. Russia 1,228,404 



15. Cuba 1,124,804 



16. Sardinia 1,112.447 



17. Mexico 791,040 



18. Egypt 787,111 



19. Tuscany 039,794 



10. Naples and Sicily 639,544 



21. Austria in Italy 637,353 



22. West coast of Africa 017,764 



23. Denmark 509,733 



24. Java and Sumatra 558,212 



25. Sweden and Norway 650,183 



20. Buenos Ayres 551,035 



27. Uruguay 529,883 



28. New Granada 4.50,804 



29. Philippine Islands 360.5.52 



30. Syria and Palestine 300,580 



31. Venczeula 248,190 



32. Papal territories 207.491 



