not yet named, will be in operation at the end of another year, as are embraced above. In fact, the electric spirit is abroad, and none can yet compute its results or measure its speed. XXVIII. PATENT OFFICE, And Abstract of the Laws of the United States concerning Patents. The Patent Office is under the direction of the Secretary of State, and was established upon its present basis by the act July 4, 1836, which repealed all previous laws concerning the office. By this law, all patents must be issued in the name of the United States; bear the seal of the patent office; be signed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and countersigned by the Commissioner of Patents, and be recorded in the patent office with all accompanying specifications and drawings. Patents grant to applicants, for fourteen years, the sole right to make and sell the invention or discovery. Applications for patents must be made to the commissioner in writing, and must give a full, clear, and exact description of the invention or discovery, specifying particularly what is claimed as the peculiar invention or discovery; the whole to be accompanied with drawings, models, and specimens of ingredients, and of the composition of matter. The descriptions and drawings must be signed by the inventor, attested by two witnesses, and filed in the patent office. The applicant must make oath of what country he is a citizen, that he believes that he is the original and first inventor or discoverer of that for which he solicits a patent, and that he does not know or believe that the same was ever before known or used. Before the applications are considered by the commissioner, $30 must be paid to the Treasurer of the United States, or the assistant Treasurers, by the applicant, if a citizen, or an alien who has resided one year in the United States, and made oath of his intention to become a citizen; $500 by a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and $300 by all other persons. If the application be for a patent for any original design, &c., the fee is but one-half of the usual sums, and the patent runs only for seven years. If upon examination it shall appear to the commissioner that the alleged invention is new, unpatented or undescribed in any printed publication, that it has not been used or exposed to sale with the applicant's consent prior to his application, and that it is sufficiently useful and important, a patent will be granted. If the invention has not been patented in a foreign country more than six months, and not introduced into common use in the United States prior to the application, a patent may be granted for fourteen years from the date of the publication of the foreign letters patent. The applications may be withdrawn, modified, and renewed. An appeal lies upon the payment of $25, from the decision of the commissioner to the Chief Justice of the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia; and the commissioner is bound by his decision. In case of interfering applications, a similar appeal upon like conditions may be had; and in case of interfering patents, if upon appeal the decision be adverse, the party may have his remedy by bill in equity. The patent may date from the time of the filing of the specifications, if it is within six months from the time of the actual issuing of the patent. The assignment of patents must be recorded within three months from the execution thereof. If inventors die without obtaining a patent, their executors may take one out in trust for the heirs. When further time is desired to mature an invention, upon the payment of $20 a caveat may be filed in the secret archives of the patent office, setting forth the design and purpose thereof; and if within a year any interfering application is made, the inventor, to enjoy the benefit of his caveat, must within three months after notice of such application deposite his specifications, &c. in the patent office; and, if the specifications interfere, the same course must be had as upon interfering applications. If a patent is invalid from defective descriptions, upon the surrender of the old patent and the payment of $15, a new patent, in accordance with the corrected specifications, may be granted, or, upon the payment of $30 for each additional patent, several patents may be issued for distinct and separate parts of the thing patented. In like manner, additions may be made to a patent. If the specifications are too broad, a disclaimer, in writing and attested, may be recorded in the patent office, upon the payment of $10. Where the patentee, without intent to defraud, claims without right to be the inventor of the whole of a machine, the patent shall be good for what is bona fide his own. If the patentee has not, during fourteen years, obtained a sufficient remuneration from his invention, the patent may be extended for seven years, after the end of the first term; but the extension must be granted during the continuance of the first term. Patents may also be extended by act of Congress. Patentees of patents granted after August 29, 1842, must stamp or engrave upon each article offered for sale, the date of the patent, under a penalty of not less than $100. We gather the following account of the condition and business of the patent office from the report of the commissioner, January, 1847. The patent office has thus far more than sustained itself. All the receipts from various sources are carried to the credit of the patent fund, which on the 1st of January, 1847, amounted to $186,565.14. The receipts and expenditures for the year ending Dec. 31, 1846, were as follows: Amount of receipts from all sources, Net balance to the credit of patent fund, Balance to the credit or patent fund, Jan. 1, 1847, $186,565 14 During the year ending December 31, 1846, there were 1,272 applications for patents; 448 caveats filed; 619 patents issued, including 13 re-issues, 5 additional improvements, and 59 designs; 473 patents expired; 3 applications for extensions, 2 of which were rejected and 1 is still pending. Two patents have been extended by Congress during the same period. For the purpose of examination, the inventions are divided into twentytwo classes, eleven being referred to each examiner. Classes of Inventions. The following Table shows the Classes of Inventions, the number of Applications for Patents under them, and the number of Patents granted during the year ending Dec. 31, 1846: — Examined by Charles G. Page. 1. Agriculture, including instruments and operations... 2. Chemical processes, manufactures and compounds, &c... 3. Calorific, comprising lamps, fireplaces, stoves, grates, &c..... 4. Mathematical, philosophical, and optical instruments, clocks, chronometers, &c. 5. Lever, screw, and other mechanical powers 6. Stone and clay manufactures, including machines therefor... 7. Leather, including the tanning, dressing, and manufacture thereof..... 8. Household furniture, machines and implements for domestic purposes... 9. Arts (polite), fine and ornamental, including music, painting, sculpture, engraving, books, printing, binding, jewelry, &c. 10. Surgical and medical instruments, including trusses, dental instruments, bathing apparatus, &c. 11. Wearing apparel, articles for the toilet, &c., including instruments for manufacturing Examined by W. P. N. Fitzgerald. 12. Metallurgy and the manufacture of metals.... 13. Manufacture of fibrous and textile fabrics, and all machinery No. of Ap-No. patents plications. granted. therefor.. 14. Steam and other gas engines. 15. Navigation, comprehending naval architecture and marine implements.. 16. Civil engineering and architecture. 17. Land conveyance, comprehending all kinds of vehicles and implements of travel and transportation. 18. Mills, comprehending all kinds of mills for grinding and 20. Fire-arms and implements of war... ....... 22. Miscellaneous, consisting of such cases as cannot be placed in any other classes ..... $50,264 16 46,158 71 4,105 45 182,459 69 *Nearly correct. The exact number does not appear in the Report. XXIX. RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES. The following list of Railroads in Massachusetts and the adjacent States, and in New York, is very complete and accurate, being compiled from official returns made near January, 1846. But the remainder is quite imperfect, though more full than any thing which has been given before. We insert it in the hope, that, by the kindness of our correspondents in the several States, and of the officers of the Railroad companies, we may obtain materials for a far more perfect enumeration in next volume. our 1. RAILROADS IN MASSACHUSETTS AND THE ADJACENT STATES. Year Miles. 1835 26 Berkshire Railroad,† 2.75 ** Total, *The cars commenced running on sections of the various roads as they were finished, and dividends were declared from the net earnings, in some cases before the road was completed. † Leased to the Bridgeport and West Stockbridge Road at seven per cent. net on the capital of $500,000. This is a union of the Randolph and Bridgewater, Fall River Branch, and Middleborough Railroad Companies. HRE The Woburn Branch, two miles long, belongs to the Lowell road; the Medford Branch, two miles, the Lawrence Branch, two miles, and the Great Falls Branch (in New Hampshire), three miles to the Maine; the Dedham Branch, two and two-fifths miles, to the Providence; the Saxonville Branch, four miles, the Millbury Branch, three and one-fifth miles, and the Milford Branch, twelve miles, to the Worcester; the Marblehead Branch, three miles, the Gloucester Branch, twelve miles, and the Salisbury Branch, three miles, to the Eastern; the Fresh Pond and Watertown Branch, five miles, to the Fitchburg. The Worcester Branch road is half a mile in length, and the Quincy road three miles. Including these, the total length of what may be called the Massachusetts roads is 763.97 miles. Besides these there are numerous roads, in process of construction, leading from the main lines in Massachusetts into other States. During the session of 1846, the Massachusetts legislature chartered eighteen roads and branches with an aggregate capital of $5,795,000; and during the session of 1847, sixteen, with an aggregate capital of $4,822,000. Name of Road. Mohawk and Hudson, Length. Cost. 12 52 16.8 Length. 35 48 38 19t 90+ * Costs, &c., included in the aggregate of the Eastern Railroad in Massachusetts. † Six miles more in Massachusetts. A portion of this road is in Massachusetts. The total length of railroads in New England is 1,074.77 miles. 3. NEW YORK RAILROADS. $1,250,279 $55,485 $126,197 1,042,718 176,453 290,228 Expenses Receipts in 1846. in 1846. Total No. of miles run. 33,641 61,872 80,860 160,000 238.088 27,928 80.000,130,000 20.986 32,000 61.660 37,097 112.000 189,245 41.478 56.300 70,706 14,088 30,496 64,652 4,115 13,915 24,500 4,668 18,000 24,455 7,291 53,713 18,167 9,000 37,011 |