The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-07-15
THE TOBACCO STOPPING.

The Case Now in the United States Cir
 cult Court in New Haven-The Con-
 necticut Growers Interests as Defend
 ed by Ex-Congressman Simonds and
 Arthur l.. Shipman.
 The suit instituted by Clyde A. Rick | ard and Edward N. Long against John A. DuBon, of Poquonock for alleged in- fringement of patent for treating to- bacco leaves, being known as the spot ting" method, came up in New Haven last week before Judge Townsend
 The farmers in this locality interested in the suit together with the tobacco dealers, include: A. H. Brown of Po- l quonock, 1T. K. Marcy, H. w. Afford, A. 1 F. Holcombe. l.. R. Lord and J. B. Par ker, Poquonock, Elk H. Bracket of | Avon, L. R. Haas of Hartford. c. 5. l Briswold of West Hartford, James Me- Cormick of Windsor, l.. P, Bissell of suf- field, Fred H. Thrall of Windsor, John | c. Buschmann of Westfield, Mass, J. w. Upson of Baldwinsvile, N. Y., H. | A. Huntington of Windsor, William w. Filly of Windsor, J. H. Wilson of Po- uuonock, Carey Brothers of Windsor, T. B. Hathaway of Poquonock H. H. Will berfam of Poquonock, William Pinney of Sufield, Julius Ransom of Windsor, Adelbert DuBon of Poquonock, Edward F. Thrall of Poquonock, Stanton Brown of Poquonock, L. H. Utley of Bloom field George Carr of Simsbury, F.. A. X w. F. Fuller of Suffield, F, H. Taylor of Westfeld, Mass, Luther M. Case of Winsted. Fred Hall of Simsbury, Ariel Mitchelson of Simsbury. George c, Enc of Simsbury, J. s. Bartlett of Simsbury, A. L. Enc of Simsbury, Campbell Case of Simsbury, Gavitte B. Holcombe Of Simsbury, l.. S. Ellsworth of Smsbury, J. w. Phelps of Simsbury, F. F. St. John of Simsbury, C. II. Enc of Sims bury, A. l.. Latimer of SimsburT Frank Kendall & Son, Frank Green, William H. Struthers, Lewis c. Spring. William R. Stutts, J. R. Hayes & Son, E. Il. Cashman. ASH. Wilcocks, Charles Golf fy, F. P. Rice, A. B. Wells, A. c. Latin am. H. G. Dbbla, l., c. Holcomb, George F. Bidwell, Thomas H. Lee, Francis Granger J. R. Holcomb John A. Allison, Henry z. Thompson, Morgan J. Bacon, l. c. Thompson, J. c. Dicken- son, U. w. bdltSi i1' ] N@ip''i N VI |
 Viets. H. V. Griffin, o. Case, Jr., V. E. Vets, B. L. Griffin, c. H, Hanchett' Levi c. Viets. Fred Goddard, J. R. Viets and N A Talmadge of East Granby, Daniel l. King, farmer Suffield, C. Il. Abbe of Suf1leld c. D. Cannon of Wind sor Locks, William H. Deley of East Windsor Hill.
 The case of the tobacco growers in thls state was presented with great force by the Hon. William F. Simonds, who has been the counsel for the Connecticut men from the outset, and Mir Arthur l.. Shipman, the associate of ex-Congress- man Simonds in the litigation,
 MT. Simonds held at the beginning of his argument that the vital assimilativa function of a growing plant is not pa tentable There are discoveries and in ventons of high order he said which are not paatnta bla under the statutes: if one were to discover method of squar- ing the circle he could not patent it; one cannot patent a new method of taxation nor a method of drilling troops, nor method of medical treatment, such, for instance, as massage; nor is any process patentable an essential clement of which IS the Nlldl anu luiit'io' cA an animal of plant. Perhaps no dis covery or invention was ever of such high importance as that which relates to the performance of surgical operations under the influence of anesthesa. DTS. Jackson and Morton took a patent for 1t, and that patent was adjudicated in the case of Morton vs. The New York Eye Infirmary, Fishers P. C., 320. It was held not to be patentable.
 But concedng for the purposes of this immediate argument concerning patent able subject-matter that Rickard x Longs contention about the assimila ton of the potash by the growing plant is sound the only feature of novelty which remains is to the Rickard & Long process, so called, in view of the prior art just cited, is that vital and assimila- ting function of the growing plant And that is precisely the thing which cannot be patented or sequestered to any indi- yidual under patent laws. Any so- called process which has for an essential element the vital functions of plant or animal is not patentable. The patent in suit is void for lack of patentable novel, | ty. It is plain enough that since 1850 ! the tobacco trade has understood all about using caustics to produce spots l both on wrapper leaves and on cigars. | The idea of disturbing such chemical | mordants" upon growing plants by | spraying, and the other idea that the | leaves can be thus spotted, have long | been well-known things in agriculture.
 The desirability of using potash for l