New-York daily tribune., 1856-08-15
NEW YORK DAILY TRIBUNE FRIDAY, AUGUST Is. 1856

on On entirely new plan, sucn a. we sugg~'oo
about ayear ago. The chronological arrangement
Of tte patents has been abandoned, and the de-
sc-ip,iOps az well as the epgravings are nov
arranged in apprs pirate cls'ses, under the heads
ofAgrculture, Manufsc sure fMeta's, Manufacture
ofFlbrous and Textile Fabrics Chemistry etc. and
moreover they are subdisided within thfir classes
80 thai. for instance all the plOws sre together, all
the haI7estcrs, ell th, locks, and 20 on. This will
uI doubtedly prove very popular fe'ture oil the
Report. Any nan- farmer, chemist, mechanic, or
ersteer-usy find in this Report at glance ~ha'
las been invented during the past year In bis pecn
liar b,anch of industry; and by looking over TIE
page or pages devoted to tbs. branch he will have
a clear idea Of the proereas made during the year,
and be able without difficulty to compare the
various improvements.
Another defect Of previen- reports has been cor
rected- In addition to the claims and disclaimers
Of the inventors full description of our Invention
i.given. This feature will Prove especially valuable,
iba.much as it will enable inventors, In making
Few inventions and improvements, to keep clear
of thase ready patented, and shape their claims
accordingly, The interests of inventors who OF
course, desire their inventions to be brought iairy
before the public, as well as the interests of the
public who IN work Of this Kind wish to hnd
wba. hey are after with az little trouble as poss'-
bic, haze been carefully regarded in the prep'ra-
tion Of this report, which will stand ss additional
e,itcrce of the popular and highly successful ad-
mini tratitn of the Patent Office by tie Hon.
Charles Maron. Few officers Of the present
Administration have worked 20 faithfully, and 90
well served the interests Of the nation.
On the other hand, We are sorry to zee tha! QUO
objections in reference 10 the execu lOn OF the iils
trative part of the former reports are apP"ca''"
to tie report for 1855. Irdesd, it ia 900
lad that publications of such importance
should be illustrated with cheap wood-cuts, when
other works OF comparatively little value, as for
iustarce, Capt Gilli.s Chan compilations, are
got up in txIaysgant style. Our Patent Office he
ports are, in this respect, far inferior 20 similar
Europscn publications.. The excessively large
edliOu of Patent Office Reports-one hundred
thousand cop;ts-r.akts it necessar! 20 ccndense
them as much rs possible, tex! as well rs plates,
ard thus It happens thas the illustrations afe on
.uall scale aid crowded tJgciher, largely de-
tracing from the pers picui!y of the work. a.
We haze already stated, we are in iavor OF a
smaller foton and good copper plate engraVings'
When the reports are given only TO those who really
wsht them for the information they contain, Instead
Of being thrown away by hundreds on persons who
sell them bJ the pound IS wrsPping-paPer, an edl-
III Of 20 COO copies will serve the purpose better
than lO0, coo do at present The saving from this
reduction would be sufficient to publish the
report IN II style worthy of The subject. The
number OF Patents iEsued inl-54 was between
I7t0 ald Leo, in lcjJ /. was about l,9OO,
aid in lc5G it III reach in all probability, $500.
Although the f,Ice of the Office has not been in
creased in bytbipg Ike the same ratio it is still
in Il state of higher efficiency than it ever was
before.
To foster the inventive genius peculiar to the
practical nil and quick perception of our people,
must always be one of our leading interests, and
money appropriated 20 increase the efficiency OF
tie rsten Office and the fac.lies for the inventor,
must be deemed well spent. /. is true that many
OF the Inventions patented of no practical value,
and that inventions Of such world wide Importance
as M,rse's, for ipstsnce, turn up scarcely ofener
than once in generation; bu. it cannot be denied
that each year produces hundreds OF improvements
which, small in themselves, constitute in the sggre-
gate u vast addition 10 our comfort and means OF
progress.