I94  The  Chinese  Musk  Industry.       {^mLX  lgNm' 
The  Beveridge  Patent. — In  further  justification  of  the  Council's 
protest  against  the  provisions  of  our  present  law,  or  the  methods  of 
its  enforcement,  which  permit  the  granting  of  patents  without  thor- 
ough and  scientific  investigation  of  the  claims  advanced  in  such 
letters  patent,  the  Council  calls  attention  to  the  report,  appearing 
above,  of  an  investigation  made  by  A.  J.  Carlson,  A.  E.  Kanter  and 
L  Tumpowski,  "  The  Question  of  the  Stability  of  Secretin,"  which 
relates  to  U.  S.  Patent  No.  1,181,424,  issued  to  James  Wallace 
Beveridge. 
Whereas  the  regulations  governing  the  issuance  of  patents  de- 
mand that  the  processes  shall  be  described  in  such  detail  that  one 
versed  in  the  sciences  can  confirm  the  claims  made  by  the  patentee, 
no  pretense  whatever  of  fulfilling  this  requirement  is  made  in  the 
patent  specifications  of  this  patent.  The  substance  of  the  first  three 
paragraphs  of  this  patent  has  long  been  general  knowledge.  Nearly 
every  sophomore  medical  student  has  himself  performed,  or  seen 
performed,  such  "  experiments "  as  are  therein  described.  The 
claims  of  novelty  evidently  are  confined  to  the  assertion  that  the 
preparation  is  able  to  "  resist  oxidation  or  deterioration  " ;  that  it  is 
free  from  "  poisonous  and  irritable  chemical  substances " ;  that  it 
may  be  administered  orally  to  produce  the  desired  physiological 
action,"  etc.  Not  the  slightest  hint  is  given  as  to  how  any  person 
can  substantiate  these  claims.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  investigation 
of  Professor  Carlson  and  his  co-workers  has  shown  that  a  prepara- 
tion having  the  properties  claimed  cannot  be  made  by  the  process 
described  in  this  patent.  Any  one  familiar  with  the  subject  could 
have  demonstrated  readily  that  the  applicant  was  withholding  in- 
formation concerning  essential  features  of  his  process,  assuming 
that  he  had  any  information  on  the  subject  (which  he  probably  did 
not  have),  and  would  have  advised  against  the  issuance  of  the 
Beveridge  patent. 
THE  CHINESE  MUSK  INDUSTRY.1 
Musk  is  one  product  of  world  commerce  in  which  China  practi- 
cally enjoys  a  monopoly — not  a  large  one,  to  be  sure,  since  the  an- 
nual output  is  at  best  only  some  $400,000  gold,  but  the  product  itself 
is  worth  many  times  its  weight  in  silver,  and  for  that  matter,  gold 
as  well,  in  these  days  of  high  exchange. 
1  Extract  from  The  Far  Eastern  Review  for  October,  transmitted  by 
Consul  G.  C.  Hanson,  Chungking. 
